EH-Net

The best version of linux for hacking? Man I get this question all the time!   The official response from most high level hackers is “ it doesn’t matter, I can work with them all”.
Well that’s nice and shows a degree of skill, but it really is not helpful for someone new to the subject. 
 
The question remains, is there a better distro? Well, yes and no. Sorry about that,lol!  But as you spend more time in Linux you will see what I mean. 
 
Ok, perhaps there is no Distro that is better than an other, but is there one that is easier?
YES! While its true I can tweak any version of Linux to do what I want, some are more difficult than others. Installing Kismet is a good rule of thumb. That can be so easy on some versions and others it can require some experimentation.  Why is that? It has to do with how the kernel is written and a few other things added on. Fedora and Red Hat often are in there own world searching for the mainstream balance of security and stability. Red Hat used to be the choice of the hacker but not so much any more. 
   
As far as the hacker goes, anything that is easily customized and not restricted is the choice.  Distros like Gentoo for instance. Anything that is too popular is “out”.  If you go to a Hacker convention and are you asked what Distro of linux you use, don’t say Red Hat or even BackTrack, LOL!  That’s for the masses and remember hackers want to feel l33t or elite and special.
 
That being said, I would say there is one version of Linux that I would recommend for the beginner.  Its Ubuntu.  Its easy to install and most hacker programs work out of the box and there is so much community support.  So far, I found no problems.   
 
Why learn Linux? There are many servers out there that are linux. Most hackers use it. Many free tools are available. Its so easy to write programs for if you are into that. I still go by the idea if you want to protect your network, you must think like a Hacker.
 
Don’t make Backtrack your only installation of Linux!  I have been told that way too much by windows people. They will say " yes I know linux, I have the Backtrack live CD".  To really know linux, you must know how to install and deal with driver issues, etc..  If you do, it will repay you big time! Once you feel comfortable with it all, then go to Backtrack.  If you can use Bactrack only from the command line, that’s a good test of your basic skill.
 
As a recap, go for Ubuntu and get a good feel for it. After that, play with a few other versions just to get a feel for them. Remember that you cant consider yourself a complete hacker without knowing Linux.

Hear hear, well spoken Kev!!

BTW, I think that Knoppix is a good choice too. Most things work straight off, and there's also a huge support base out there.

Hi Kev, Negrita,

Thanks a lot guys, i was wondering which one to use out of two option Knoppix & Suse linux, iam not going for knoppix version as i have ECcouncil manual with me which would help a lot i going a head.

Cheers
Vp

Hi, here's my tuppence worth...

I like the reasoning that there's no 'best' Linux distro for hacking. That said I can well understand the suggestion that Ubuntu should be a serious contender for this post since it makes things easy for 95% of the Linux using population.

I used to be a big fan of Mandrake (now Mandriva) Linux for various reasons, the main one being that  OOTB most things worked. There were sufficient challenges even then to getting the most out of my system, resolving driver issues etc. to further my understanding. In my day (I'm sounding old now) Mandrake was the Ubuntu of the day.

If you like the run a tool and see what it does approach to learning then install something like Backtrack. Otherwise install a regular, stable distro and install the tools you want to try out. When you run into trouble take it as a learning experience and benefit from it. Failing at the first hurdle on;y teaches you to jump higher!

Jimbob

I love how you can't say Redhat without drawing criticism. Like Redhat is Linux for Windows users. The funny thing, is the people doing the laughing really don't know anything about the Linux OS. Alas, I will never convince the masses, because its all about trendiness with Linux distro's and nothing to do with ease of use and functionality. The bottom line is that the best distro is the one your best at using.

On a side note, if I had to choose the best for hacking. It would absolutely be a personally customized LIVE CD based on knoppix. Reason being, running a live cd versus an installed image leaves less of a forensic record on the machine your using. Making it personally customized allows for you to only add the tools your gonna use, vs backtrack where you get a whole suite of tools that you might not use at all. This makes it more nimble, which is my primary reasoning for going with knoppix. Its not bloated, but its still full featured when you need it to be.

I built a Triple-Boot USB Key with Backtrack, Knoppix and MiniPE.

It's REALLY helpful to have several live distros in hand with different OS flavors.

 :)

Hi Guys,

Just a quick question in Live CD versionof Unix flavours, when you boot thru livecd we couldnt write any shell scripts and change anything in it....(Am i right)....Then how can it be so helpful for person who learns Linux & security internals where you might need to change the configs often........Is that right! or am i missing something where you can save changes like shell scripts to it...?

Cheers
Vp75

You can write shell scripts but any changes you make are only good for that current session. Once you reboot, you have start all over again. If you want a permanent you will either have to do a hard drive install or download the ISO file to your desktop and then edit it and then burn a fresh copy.

Hi Kev

I didnt get  you, what do you mean by edit the ISO downloaded file....pls could you elaborate it....

Vp75

  You can download the copy of the ISO file and then open it up with your program of choice and remove or add some files. Not every kind of file allows editing like this, but its easy to insert startup scripts. Then burn the new image and hopefully you now have a custom live CD. Ultimate ISO works well for this and I think Magic ISO will also.

can anybody upload iso image of Blacktrack Live Linux CD?

Get it here:

http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack_download.html

I don't know about you, but I would always prefer downloading from the source as opposed to grabbing someone else's copy on a different site.

Don

Whatever works, I agree.   

I'd agree Gentoo is a safe bet to recommend with some caveats-- but don't recommend it to anyone  and give them your email address.  The learning curve is a harsh one and they'll grind your productivity to a halt with questions because it's anything but easy!  :-)   It's also a recommendation I won't give folks on anything but fast fast machines if they intend on using it as a vmware guest--all the emerge compilation can be painfully slow in a VM.  I'd also recommend a low drama window manager if they want to use one--something like fluxbox can keep painful window manager updates from heating up the house when those come out.

But as for figuring out how Linux actually works,  there's really nothing else like it, you can emerge practically any package out there, but gentoo does require care and feeding on a weekly basis, and a real commitment to learning it!

Without a doubt, BackTrack. Also, DSL (Damn Small Linux) would be nice.

 :D

The best distro is whichever you are most familiar with. I still boot up backtrack to play with tools, but since I'm most familiar with Debian I usually end up putting most the tools on there. It's not worth learning Slackware/slax just because they compiled a ton of tools. 90% of those you won't end up using regularly, but Backtrack is perfect for finding that 10% that will become your hacking toolkit.

Coming from someone who just started using linux a couple months ago
I found ubuntu a good starting place for someone new to the linux enviroment.There seems to be alot of helpfull boards and info out on the
web for ubuntu to help new people.it was a great help to me.I recently just installed backtrack to a usb key and been playing around with it,my time with ubuntu has greatly helped me with backtrack.

Yes I agree Sedated. Ubuntu is really the best distro to start with for someone new to linux. I have been playing around with it for some time now and have found it amazing easy to install every tool we hackers normally use. One thing to be careful with a disto like this is all the upgrades they make easy for you.  If you have your version working perfect with all your tools there is no reason to upgrade.  I had people in the past get mad at me because I recommended Ubuntu and they worked very hard to get all their tools to work like aircrack-ng and kismet, etc...  Then they would do all the upgrades to the new version and found they no longer work!

Many upgrades are security orientated and that should not be a concern for a pentester. To be honest, my version of linux has so many holes in it when I am pentesting I should call it swiss cheese linux!  I think you will find the more open it is the easier you will get results. Now dont get me wrong, for my day to day working I use a very secure set up. But when I am pentesting I boot to what I call my "holy" version because of its vulnerability. I dont run a firewall, etc...  Remember the more security the less flexible your OS is going to be.  If you have been having problems with exploits, etc.. perhaps you have locked down your OS too much?

But dont I assume some risk? Well perhaps, but I have been hacking a long time and to this date ( knock on wood) I have never had some one own me while I am doing a pentest.  Now I do take some precaution. I am very aware of any connection to me and if I upload data from a compromised server I do it to a very secure situation in order to protect the company I might be working for.  I always work with 2 boxes at the same time and I dont record my results on my open system. Not even a simple record of my nmap.  I hope you get the picture. Attack with a very open and flexible OS, but record in such a way that nothing gets compromised. Could you imagine how much it would suck to be doing a pentest only to open a door for a script kiddie! Careless pentesters have done this in the past so be careful.