Best linux distro for me
Alright, so this isn't unique. Another person wondering what of the hundreds of linux distros to choose. I was hoping to get into it for the programming benefits.I am trying to self teach python (annoying with school in the way) and after words c, pearl etc. I was wondering what the best linux would be that would have like, compilers, python, stuff like that. And these (I don't mind just downloading them) putty, blues port scanner, notepad++, JTR, cain etc. Sorry if I am listing too many. Basically, the first are nessesary the last few I can just find. (also, just the ones you find best for overall use) Thanks, hope to be dual-booting linux soon :) (btw, I wont think I am an "Uber 1337 Hacker" just because of linux… I am sick of people who think because you use linux you are a hacker… Its- never mind… A different forum topic is needed)
Ok…this is the kind of thing that will either get no replies, or turn into an all out flame war of death. So I'll throw in my 2 cents while I can.
I prefer 3 depending on what I'm looking to do. 1: Ubuntu 2: Knoppix 3: Slax
I like Knoppix as a live CD
I like Ubuntu for its ease of use
and I like Slax for its interface
Okay agree with the above post.
People don't start ragging out distro's etc etc.
Here is my 2 cents.
You don't need linux to hack. It's optional but knowing *nix commands is useful if you plan to root servers. (Something you shouldn't concern yourself with as of yet).
Interface: Slax LiveCD that picked up my WirelessCard: PCLOS My favourite distro: BackTrack.
Look into them all, I personally don't like ubuntu but that maybe because it was my first distro and it pissed me off loads when I installed it. Having gone back to it since.
I'm a huge Gentoo fan; the install process is long, but you'll learn your command line and it lets you slim down your kernel as much as you want during the install. Also, just typing "emerge <package>" to install anything is awesome… pulls dependencies and everything automatically.
Ubuntu is okay… I've run servers off of Edgy Server edition before.
Live CD's… just like what was said, it depends on what I'm doing. The one I use the most is Ophcrack.,, great for cracking SAMs (with no effort) when you have physical access. Backtrack is great for pretty much anything security… but, I remember it taking some serious effort to get the wireless working on that. Oh, and I run DSL on my 2-yr-old son's 300Mhz PII… runs like a charm, and is only 50Mb.
But, yeah, don't change OS's just to "be a hacker". Use the OS you're most comfortable with (even if it's Winblows or Mac) and learn it well. VMWare is great for learning about other OS's, when that time comes.
Like I said, I hate it when people think they are a hacker because they use linux, and flaming is the reason I was hesitant about posting this thread. Anyways, I was hoping to dual-boot it with windows, because quite frankly I don't like programming in windows, but till I get the OK from my parents I want to dual. I don't think I would want a CD because well… hoping to dual :-/ But I had looked at Slack, Knoppix, Solaris, and red hat, but I wasn't sure. (I have used a live of Ubuntu… not bad but I couldn't really do everything I wanted on it) So which of the said once would be best probably for programming (I will probably check out all the ones you said anyways :P) Thanks for the feedback and non flaming of people.
Yeah, trying out different distros would be your best chance. Really, you can program in any one of them… if they don't come with the language's compiler installed, then you can just install it via whatever method the distro provides. If I remember right, Red Hat does allow you to install Python during the install process. Not that that should influence your decision, for the reason given above.
Good luck finding a distro that works for you.
Distro promiscuity is always necessary when you're first starting out, also you may find out as I did that some distros work well with this computer but not so well with this one. I've personally stuck with Slackware for a long time now, because it was developed to be more Unix-like I tend to learn more about the actual operating system itself.
But as an example of the computational differences state above, I've got 3 laptops and two desktops…
Primary Laptop (newest): Slackware 11.0 (great programmer's distro) Secondary Laptop (slightly older): Debian (easier to harden for pentesing) Third Laptop (rather old): FreeBSD (crafted as a hardware firewall only) Primary Desktop: Red Hat9 (runs all of my server apps for pentesting) Secondary Desktop: Windows XP (gaming and pentesting)
It's all about finding what suits your needs and our needs change greatly as we evolve in what we know.
@regret - "Distro promiscuity" Sounds dirty. :happy: Seriously, though, I agree with you… distros have their strengths and weaknesses, and are configured differently, so it's up to taste and what works for what you have.
@lukem_95 - There's a FC9? I only remember 6 coming out… maybe you're referring to Red Hat? Just saw there's a FC6 LiveCD… I just might have to check that out. ;)
I was thinking slack a while ago, but then again I could be running a mandrake :P I will have XP running main. I think I will just try out slackware, redhat and fedora. If I don't like those I will see about some of the others mentioned. Either way, choosing linux will be, "fun" lol. Thanks for all the help.
Lol… A linux GURU should make an article about goods and bads of linux (I found one but it didn't really cover much [googled it])
My personall favourite would have to be BackTrack2 but if your looking for something with solely hacking purposes than i would do two things or possibly three firstly install backtrack as your base system and install opensuse over it for office use and stuff and then mount the backtrack ISO and tell grub to boot the ISO so if your doing somthing heavily illegal boot the ISO if your just defacing use the base system and for office use Suse.
Its all pretty personal, I really like backtrack2, it includes most compilers and a few decompilers as well, but for day to day office work it lacks a little bit, but overall deffinitely worth checking out. have a look at their site >> www.remote-exploit.org .
Good luck!
The bad thing about trying to make a good vs bad linux distro article is
(a) There are 597 linux distros out there (last I checked)…that's ALOT of distro whoring.
(b) It takes a certain measure of tinkering and customization to release the full potential of any particular distribution….even more time :P
(c) The goods and bads are highly subjective, what you may see as a bad addition to the distro (like adding the 2.6 kernel to slackware 11.0 for me because of insability) someone else may see as a good thing (2.6 kernel = wireless cards easier).
ok, well i installed mandriva this arvo after being a long time mandrake and redhat follower (still use both)
personally….. MANDRIVA!!!!
ha ha if nothing else comes stock with the rotating cube that we all love so much.
but as far as usablility and flexibility
mandriva
although i do like DSL for messing around with other peoples boxes
wolfmankurd wrote: turns hips and bends down so knuckles drag on floor swings around raising hand to give him an almigthy bitch slap bsd not linux :D
+29 for BSD!!! I personally use freeBSD more often myself. I run it off of VMWare that also has linux+windows on it. Never realized how super 31337 Windows XP SP2's security is with just the basic windows firewall until i installed that beast on VM…</sarcasm> ;)
For base, i just use Windows because i want to and i like several programs that are only available for Windows. I used to dual boot SuSE and Windows XP SP1, but VMWare is so much better for me, although it does seem to have a problem with loading my f*cking ipod as i usually get bluescreened. >.<