Safety of 3rd party cd's
 

First let me state that I am less qualified than a noob.....I purchased some 3rd party Linux 10 CD's from a web site listed on this forum and a question came to mind. Can a person take a clean, lets say mandrake 10 linux operating system pack add a root kit, load it to CD and then sell it as 3rd party software. If so how would a noob such as myself know. I want to be sure that I am not installing a built in root kit from the start.:scratch:

Never use any software from an untrusted source.
I think comparing md5sums would be a check if needed.
The reputable distributors of cheap linux CDs are not going to be doing this.

Well I dont know how one would know whom to trust when it comes to 3rd party software. If allowed to ask, do you think that linuxcd.org would be one of those?

Oh yeah, I am a noob and dont have a clue what md5sums is/are. Could you explain how to check that

How to Verify an Iso Image - www.linuxiso.org supplies me with most of my images for burning and they also have pretty good instructions on verifying and burning the image.

Bearing in mind the nature of the internet, if that store did put a rootkit into a distribution cd, they would be found out very very quickly and they would be slated all across the internet. The fact that this has not happened would suggest to me that they are trustworthy. Just a thought.

You are probably right....Thanks for the help