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There are a lot of tutorials which show how to install Kali Linux's tools on Ubuntu distros.

So I was wondering, why do pen-testers use Kali instead of Ubuntu? while it's more reliable & fancy than Kali.

What are the pros of working on Kali?

RobotHumans
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Alaa Salah
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  • Kali isn't based on Ubuntu. It's based on Debian – RobotHumans Jul 20 '14 at 07:50
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    People use whatever distro they find to work for them best. Almost all the decision is due to personal preference. – HalosGhost Jul 20 '14 at 07:55
  • @HalosGhost So there are no key-differences? – Alaa Salah Jul 20 '14 at 07:57
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    There was a talk at Derbycon from one of the core team members behind Kali about what makes it different and better in its own way, but I can't seem to find it with thirty seconds of Googling... which is about all I'll devote to a holy war. – RobotHumans Jul 20 '14 at 07:57
  • I think the author intended Ubuntu (or other *nix) and if so the third paragraph by Guido addresses this well ... – oemb1905 Jul 09 '16 at 06:59

1 Answers1

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As stated before Kali is based on Debian. However, unlike Debian it is focused on forensics. For this reason Kali preinstalls packages relevant for forensics. Kali also actively seeks bugs in forensics-related packages. Thus Kali saves you from finding and installing forensic packages. It also keeps you informed about bugs in these packages. Furthermore it provides a community platform for those interested in forensics.

Added later on: All right, Kali focuses on penetration testing as well. The main point is still that Kali preinstalls useful things for a specific domain, and it provides a community platform. General purpuse distributions like Debian do not have a similar focus.

One might install Kali tools on Debian, but they should be installed one by one from the sources at http://git.kali.org (see https://forums.kali.org/showthread.php?19715-Add-kali-repo-to-debian-system-for-installation-of-some-tools-Will-it-break-debian&p=29745#post2974).

Guido van Steen
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