What makes Kali Linux different from other Linux distros for it to be used exclusively for hacking and penetration testing?

I have been asked to first start using Kali Linux and get used to the bash before doing anything in hacking. I was wondering what is so special in Kali Linux that I cannot do on Ubuntu or any other distro for that matter? Also, what does your experience say regarding it's usefulness?

Solution 1:

I have been asked to first start using Kali Linux and get used to the bash before doing anything in hacking.

No. Just no. "Getting used to the Bash" means you're lacking somewhat fundamental skills and knowledge in Linux. Kali Linux is a fairly focused distro designed for penetration testing. It does have a few unique packages, but it's also set up in somewhat of a strange way.

Using Kali does not make you a hacker. Too many people think so and are completely out of their depth, being unable to do basic tasks in some cases. If you wish to learn the fundamentals the right way, forget about Kali at first. Kali's an Ubuntu fork, and a modern version of Ubuntu has better hardware support. You might also be able to find repositories with the same tools Kali does. That's for later though. Work through something like Linux the hard way or LFS101. Understand the basics. Learn Linux before you get yourself delusions of grandeur. You make yourself a hacker, not the distro.

Kali is a somewhat overrated distro that's specialised, attracts skiddies and doesn't have anything special to offer to the newbie Linux user. You'll find that with a certain degree of hacking skill, you'd probably end up customising your own environment anyway. Kali's really designed for the middle ground where one has basic-good skills but needs a standard, fairly substantial set of tools available. It is certainly a terrible distro for someone who isn't used to Bash or the Linux environment.

Solution 2:

Actually, you CAN do everything also on Ubuntu and others. Kali linux is just a pre-configured set of kernel-mods, settings, and applications in a way you would actually use it for penetration testing. If you want to setup everything the same way in Ubuntu, it would require a lot of effort and time, including building your own kernel, compiling specific packages, and also know what software you might want to have.

Usefulness depends very much on what you are planning on doing. I mostly use it to troubleshoot network issues, because it has everything enabled in a way that makes this straightforward. Especially if you're using a Live-CD/-USB, you would not be able to compile a specialized kernel or easily insert kernel-modules (i.e. device drivers).