Using penetration testing OS as the primary operating system is common and beneficial for security assessments.
Using penetration testing OS as the primary operating system is common and beneficial for security assessments.
I've been trying Parrot OS for a while now and it's been quite enjoyable so far. I'm thinking about switching to it as my primary system, which means I'm currently using Windows 10 for that. I also want to mention that I've used other distributions before. What do others think about running such distros as the main operating system? For instance, with Kali Linux you usually don't want it as the main OS because it runs everything as root, but with Parrot OS that's not a big concern. Should I set it up as a dual boot—Parrot OS (Home) as the main and another version on a secondary SSD?
I wasn't sure about the pros and cons, but I ended up going ahead with dual booting anyways.
I don't have personal preferences, but I can suggest based on common needs. What do you require most—performance, ease of use, or specific features?
Depends on personal taste. I have been using Pop OS for months now and love it. Manjaro is great too. Ubuntu and Mint are always solid choices. All of them can be tested using a live usb so you can play around in them and see what they are like before committing to an installation.
It's about testing across various distributions and dealing with challenges in deploying consumer apps on non-consumer-focused systems. Need a quick way to run Aircrack-ng on Ubuntu for wireless testing or an orbital ion cannon for DOS? Just install via apt. For Steam on Kali Linux, expect a lot of setup work. You'll likely have to manage many dependencies and tweak configurations before things work smoothly.
You found some useful advice. Initially, I thought about using parrotOS security as the main operating system with Windows on another disk. Since my computer is mainly for programming and pentesting, I aimed to keep all my software together—though that wasn’t the most obvious plan. I considered using Windows for applications like Steam. Ultimately, I opted for just the ParrotOS Home installation for programming and Steam, running it from a USB drive as suggested. Appreciate the tip!
It varies based on the software you're developing; some distributions may not be suitable for your needs. If you're targeting Windows exploits, running them on Linux isn't possible.