which distro of linux

im contimplating on which version of linux to download. i was goin to install mandrake, but was having second thoughts, is there a different distro i should get if im into learning about security and hacking with linux?



thanks

Well there is no 'certain' distro , but im on SuSE 8.2 now and I love it dearly.. But when i migrated to linux i went out and bought the Mandrake 9.0 powerpack.. I don't regret it at all , but even if you do go to one certain distro , don't ditch it right away and think that you should jump right into slack.. Stick with it for awhile and weave in and out of some problems and solve them yourself.. Manage users and buy books on securing it.. You'll get it , reading is learning :)

if you just want to play with some tools you can try knoppix std. Its a live cd distro that can run on any comp that boots from cd.

PHALK, www.phlak.org (i think) is a boot from CD type thing as well. Even provides for NVIDIA video card.

well search the forum and you will find lots of similar question and answers tooo....i am sure those will surely help you. i suppose in the past there was a poll on which distro the members use....have a look at that too ...

anyhow i am a Mandrake user and i havent ever had any probs with it which will make shift over to other distro....and i personally dont like RH anymore.

Just my thoughts.

Well I would say our linux distro which is exactly what it is made for "Hacking, testing, and forensics" but unfortunately it is not done yet. "sigh"

I would still say for beginners Redhat or Mandrake would be the best choice. I agree with Mnchur in that if you just want to play with some of the tools then Knoppix is the way to go. Yes, there are not as many tools on it has PHLAK has, but I have had issues with PHLAK booting properly on a couple of computers. I have never had Knoppix fail yet. It is a good tool get your feet wet.

Ive used Mandrake and Knopix but some vulnerablity scanners I wanted to use on are on RedHat rpms so I made another partiton and am now running redhat . I would reccomend doing a full install if you have the room because I had to get a lot of stuff to build some packages.

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I would reccomend doing a full install if you have the room because I had to get a lot of stuff to build some packages.

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I've done full installs in the past... and still had to get tons of packages for various apps.

If you do a full install... MAKE SURE YOU DISABLE SERVICES YOU AREN'T GOING TO USE!!!.

There are quite a few services that are run on a default full install that you'll probably never use. Takes up quite a bit of resources if you don't stop what isn't necessary. Not to mention each service has its own risks...

To be honest, if your going for a distro that you want to use with alot of packages you can sue without having to download them, go for SuSE. theres no distro made for anything in specific unless you buy server versions. They all run on the same kernel, the only difference is what packages it comes with.

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Originally posted here by zexter
im contimplating on which version of linux to download. i was goin to install mandrake, but was having second thoughts, is there a different distro i should get if im into learning about security and hacking with linux?
thanks

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I could not recommend a distro for Linux if you want to learn about "Sercurity and hacking". I would have thought that the objective would be to fully understand Linux, before you can contemplate anything else. Are you expert in Linux ? If not learn the system totally before considering the security aspects

Well for the newbie you can try mandrake or red hat. However, for the power user I would recommend slackware, or my friends would recommend gentoo or debian. I have not tried debian or gentoo however I have heard good things. Slackware is my favorite becasue it is not bloated with extra crap, does not use rpm, it is powerful and secure, and it is very unix like. Slackware is also one of the oldest linux distros out there, its tried and true, it kicks royal ass! :D

People would think i wasn't Shrekkie if I wouldn't suggest Gentoo here...

Greetz,

Try RedHat. Nowadays linux is not as hard to learn as it seems. Just install and learn, get some books at the library or local book store. Try some googlin' on the net and you'll find lots of tuts and references. Have fun.

one of these (most popular distro's)
http://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

or one of the other zillion
http://www.distrowatch.com/

Suse 9 has treated me well. It's the first time that I've ever bothered to use Linux for anything other than web browsing. I configured Squid with it. Took six hours, but very easy. (BTW, I wrote a really nice tutorial on it and no one bothered to comment-- ungrateful!!!! just kidding:) )
Linux is not hard to learn. That is a myth, plain and simple. The truth about Linux is that it is much more fun to work with. jim459 is dead right, though. If you have no security background, forget about securing the OS until you know enough about it. I would even go so far as to suggest using Windoze to learn the basics of networking, etc.
Just my two cents.

I used to say Red Hat, but the line is over. RH9 is the last of it's kind. My best advice on the distro would have to be, find one that many people you know use. There is no more secure distro. Security comes from the users and Administrator. Proper use of services and patches leads to a secure box. There is also no such thing as an un-hackable box. When choosing a distro, it is important to find one that friends also use, that way you have some local support. I'm using RH9 right now, but will soon switch to either SuSE or Slackware soon.

BTW, I hear Red Hat is stopping all support for RH9 around July. After that they are only doing Enterprise Linux.

I'm actually useing 3 different Linux systems. I have RH9, KNOPPIX 3.3, and yellow dog. I'm enjoying yellowdog the most. i have had no problems with it yet. Knoppix is also quite fun. Its a bootable OS that can be ran right off the disk w/o installation.

spools, i bought yellow dog linux a while back (version 2.2) for my little clamshell iBook and i had a horrible experience installing it. I think my hard drive (i think it was 3 gig :)) was way to small for both linux and mac os 9. I cant even install mac os X on the computer. Anyways, the moral to my story is before you buy or install something, make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements. I want to get red hat 9 for my PC, but i dont want to clear my hd and i want to keep everything on my hard drive the same. I have a 120 gig hard drive and i am using about 70 gigs already, is there a way i can set aside a certain amount of disk space for an installation of RH9 and not worry about loosing my current files? kinda newbie question...

The first Linux I ever installed was Slackware. I have used Redhat now for years and stick with it because it is familiar territory.

It will become a matter of personal choice in the end. The advice to try a couple different distributions is great advice.

No matter which you choose, I would recommend hanghing out on the command line far more than a GUI if you are serious about learning Linux.

Good luck to you ....

.: Aftiel

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Originally posted here by Aftiel
The first Linux I ever installed was Slackware. I have used Redhat now for years and stick with it because it is familiar territory.

It will become a matter of personal choice in the end.

.: Aftiel

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i agree, choosing a linux distro is all up to personal opinion, they all run pretty much in the same manner, aside from the packages that come with whatever distro you happen to be buying, but they are all essentially the same

i Just have to say one thing . . .


SuSe :D

But don't listen to us, some one said in another threat, i don;t remmember who.(sorry for not remebering your name) If you have friends that use a distro of linux try going with that because you can use then as reference for problems that you might have. And also i recomend to go to their sites and look what they have to offer. and chosse the distro that fits youre needs.

why is everyone so keen on starting with one distro and then moving on to slackware? slack is just as easy to install as redhat is. the on screen mennu that you boot up to when you install explains everything. It says right in there that you press enter and then either fdisk or cfdisk, theres help for all of them, and you dont even need the book to install. its just not hard like poeple make you believe, i installed it right the first time i tried and still have yet to read a boo on it. its ok if you want the boot up screen to have Tux....but other than that its a waste of time to me. you can customise ANY Linux distro with what packeges you want to use, so saying its not bloated isnt relevent to anything. to me its just wasted time searching for packs I want, and having to install security patches by hand...thats a waste of time to me. if i wanted to do that Id use Free BSD. also, dont let anyone tell you slack is more secure or some bull like that, Linux is nothing but a Kernel, thats it. the programs and packeges you add make it a complete OS and all of them can usually be used with ANY distro. slack is no more secure than redhat. Why is this? because they are both Linux distros and both have the same packeges available. The only difference in any Linux distro tends to be nothing more than the install, and how you update and install packeges. thats about all youll find when it comes too difference. The installs look different on every distro, and the way you update. redhat has up2date, SuSE has YAST Online Update (YOU), Debian has apt-get upgrade, slack has .....heh, nothing that comes with it by default, and gentoo has the BSD rip off. so there, now you know, unless you go for some distro that was made FOR security, then theres no real difference other than installs and updates. Mandrake I like because it has a cool firewall and a nice UI that is easy to customize. also it works. even though i have been using SuSE and Debian alot lately. another thing, can we make a thread that has all of the threads that were started about which linux distro to choose, put the good parts in from each, and make it sticky? i havnt even been here that long and iv seen like 200 of these damned threads asking which distro is best. Ennis youll back me up on this right? ;)