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I've used Kali Linux quite a lot but, as a Linux user, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who knows Linux. It's mainly good for: 1. Students studying an OffSec
by lucideer 4y ago
I've used Kali Linux quite a lot but, as a Linux user, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who knows Linux. It's mainly good for:
1. Students studying an OffSec course (the creators / maintainers of Kali) as the course material is designed with Kali in mind.
2. Mac/Windows-using security professionals running Kali in a VM (or light/casual Linux users doing the same - i.e. users without a deep Linux knowledge/comfort*)
For anyone more Linux-savvy* I would recommend simply installing the tools Kali bundles that you want to use. It can be helpful to have Kali as a VM if you want to trial/explore the curated software library, but for professional use people typically start to get to know the set of tools they're comfortable with / interested in.
* Aside: for anyone surprised security-professionals wouldn't be Linux-savvy, knowledge is specialised. Even if you are working in Linux-specific security (& not just using Linux cli tooling to access MS networks or decompile MS binaries), areas of security focus can still be quite compartmentalised.
- Arch-TK 4y agoCan confirm, as a security consultant I just use debian(ish) with an archlinux container (or sometimes VM) with all the stuff I need. This is far more sane for me than dealing with the bizarreness of kali. All my coworkers who are windows users are happy with it though.
- lucideer 4y agoI'm really grateful for distros like Kali / Parrot / Pentoo as they act as a (much more selectively) curated list of tooling akin to those "awesome lists" on Github, as well as being a rallying point for the maintenance of those same tools. But yeah - the tools are available individually & this is how I typically use them.
- archi42 4y agoOn Arch there are also the Black Arch sources.
- lucideer 4y agoA new one on me, thanks!
- JohnFen 4y agoYes, this. Kali (purple or otherwise) is meant as a special-purpose toolset. It is not meant to be used as a regular Linux installation, and I strongly recommend that people don't use it as that.
- freedomben 4y agoYeah there are tons of people working in infosec that don't know or use any linux. IMHO they're doing themselves a disservice (both professioally and personally) but it is the reality that you can have a solid infosec career and never have to know linux.