Why Learn Linux
This is a stupid question. But I don't blame you you're only asking it 'cause you're constantly being told you need to use linux to be cool/or leet whatever. At the end of the day. It's just there to help you get a job done. Like comparing notepad (default on windows) to notepad++. Notepad works fine and you can live with it just alone, but notepad++ makes life a whole lot easier and lets you do more with less work.
You wont learn anything from using linux (well not unless you are intent on learning and then you'll gain the same from windows tbh). It just makes life a lot easier for various reasons.
Why learn Linux? because once you do know how to work with, your life will be so much easier as wolfmankurd already noted. But it is indeed a bit of a stupid question, because even when someone answers it, it might not be that what you wanted to hear. The best way to get that question answered is using a linux distribution yourself. Distro's like ubuntu are very user-friendly, you will able to the basic stuff again in no time.
A maybe useless effort to try to answer your question: some things that may convince you are:
- There aren't a lot of viruses for linux/GNU (which it should be called actually), meaning you won't have to search an anti-virus that uses your pc's resources
- If you really want, you can change anything you like, though not always that easy. But mostly if it something generally wanted there will be guides on the net how to do it.
- Lots of scripting languages build in (perl, sed, (g)awk, bash,…) or very easy to install others (php, python,…) and once you master one of those you can do some basic things very quick. (as in moving/renaming/finding/unpacking files, but also much more)
- easily upgradeable, reinstalling linux doesn't have to mean having to reinstall your favorite programs or having to backup your documents
- the more you understand from linux (there is a lot you can learn), the more you will understand your pc and it probably makes you a better hacker :p
- lots of easy to install hacking tools :p, or even distro's made for cracking (BackTrack, well officially it is probably for network-analysis)
To be honest there also things that might hold you back:
- Anything that is not open source will not, and I don't think this will change in the near future, be preinstalled on linux. This means that you will have to install java/flash/mp3-codecs/… yourself, though there are tons of easy-to-follow guides out there now. Unfortunately this could also mean having to install certain hardware-drivers yourself, although most modern hardware-devices have an open source alternative which is preinstalled for you. And f.ex. ubuntu lets you easily install closed-source hardware-drivers. (as an example I had to install closed source drivers for a Broadcom network card.)
- For owners of an ATI gpu device (including me) there can be some difficulties trying to achieve some specific things (as in connection an external monitor, or as simple as correcting your resolution or 'advanced' as installing compiz as windowmanager) as they are far less supported than Nvidea devices. But that doesn't mean you can't use linux if you do have an ATI device, cause I have been using it for years now with some minor difficulties once in a while but it all depends on what model you have.
ludis wrote:
- There aren't a lot of viruses for linux/GNU (which it should be called actually), meaning you won't have to search an anti-virus that uses your pc's resources
But viruses in linux increased rapidly. Damn people are so skillful to write good viruses, which is far better than Windows. So it is recommended to hav an Anti-Virus scanner on ur linux.
ghostraider100 wrote: But viruses in linux increased rapidly. Damn people are so skillful to write good viruses, which is far better than Windows. Are you saying Linux viruses are far better than Windows viruses? I don't understand.
ghostraider100 wrote: So it is recommended to hav an Anti-Virus scanner on ur linux. You don't even need anti-virus software on windows. Just keep your software up to date and don't download to much porn/cracks/whatever it is you like.
@starofale im do you think up-to-date AV can do a better job. There are anti-anti-viruses on both platforms. When some kind of virus infects an AV it'll make both OS and AV entirely different. Wen u hit scan the infected AV will spread those virus. Virus cryptology, Virus immunology and some other technique can confuse you, you linux and AV. So virus programming knowledge is needed.
and
starofale wrote: and don't download to much porn/cracks/whatever it is you like.
dont be idiotic.
ghostraider100 wrote: Virus immunology and some other technique can confuse you, you linux and AV. You can certainly confuse me. I don't understand most of what you have written. You seem to be talking about malware that corrupts an anti-virus program. I don't see how that is relevant.
ghostraider100 wrote: dont be idiotic. Who are you trying to fool? :P
@starofale im now half asleep dont know wat im doin lol its 12:30 am here. Ill try to explain those concepts clearly afterwards.
and
starofale wrote: [quote]ghostraider100 wrote: dont be idiotic
Who are you trying to fool? :p[/quote]
dont social engineer me to leak my company secrets. :D
With a properly configured *nix distribution you don't need to worry about viruses. If you're going to run some services to the world (ie. open ports) then you might want to install a WAF.
If you don't log in as root, and don't sudo every script/binary you come across, you're going to be alright. If you're paranoid or skilled, you're going to run a hardened system with GRsec, PaX and the like.
To answer your original question, "why learn linux": If you don't you will be missing about 3/4ths of the puzzle you're trying to complete by studying information security ("hacking").
BufferOverflowAttack wrote: So I was told that Linux was just a free version of Unix.
No. It is unix-like, but there is much, much more to it than that. It is different in many ways. You can check this infograph for a better idea of the heritage, time wise:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Unix_history.svg
stealth- wrote: [quote]BufferOverflowAttack wrote: So I was told that Linux was just a free version of Unix.
No. It is unix-like, but there is much, much more to it than that. It is different in many ways. You can check this infograph for a better idea of the heritage, time wise:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Unix_history.svg[/quote]
Ahh. Thanks for clarifying. ;)