Windows or Linux?

[ngocminh1704]

Hi guys! I wanted to learn about hacking, coding,programming,...So should i use Linux or Windows?

[F1.z3ro]

Either one works.  Which OS do you prefer?  Use that one.


Personally, I use windows, Linux and OS X (yeah, I know....a lot of folks here hate Apple, but I am not one of them).

[Kulverstukas]

The question is very abstract. It should be like "what linux distro should I use".

[m0l0ko]

I'd say linux. Are you familiar with linux yet? If not, I recommend installing Ubuntu and learning how to use it. When you become familiar with Ubuntu. When you know how to use linux, you can use BackTrack5 which is a distro dedicated entirely to pen testing. Ubuntu made unity the default desktop environment and got rid GNOME though which is a pain in the ass but you can install GNOME on it yourself.

[techb]

Why not Mint? Win7 really isn't so bad either. And if it came by default might as well keep it just in case and go for a dual boot or VM.

[lucid]

I say if you have a strong interest in computing you will eventually want to learn a linux. Linux is more involved and it is good to learn how to use a CLI.

[spark]

  The single most important step any newbie can take toward acquiring hacker skills is to get a copy of Linux or one of the BSD-Unixes or OpenSolaris, install it on a personal machine, and run it.Yes, there are other operating systems in the world besides Unix.  But they're distributed in binary — you can't read the code, and you can't modify it.  Trying to learn to hack on a Microsoft Windows machine or under any other closed-source system is like trying to learn to dance while wearing a body cast.
Under Mac OS X it's possible, but only part of the system is open source — you're likely to hit a lot of walls, and you have to be careful not to develop the bad habit of depending on Apple's proprietary code.  If you concentrate on the Unix under the hood you can learn some useful things.
Unix is the operating system of the Internet.  While you can learn to use the Internet without knowing Unix, you can't be an Internet hacker without understanding Unix.  For this reason, the hacker culture today is pretty strongly Unix-centered. (This wasn't always true, and some old-time hackers still aren't happy about it, but the symbiosis between Unix and the Internet has become strong enough that even Microsoft's muscle doesn't seem able to seriously dent it.)

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

[offensive]

Linux is best.

[m0l0ko]

Why not Mint? Win7 really isn't so bad either. And if it came by default might as well keep it just in case and go for a dual boot or VM.

Does Mint come with GNOME instead of Unity? If so, I'm switching to Mint. Its a pain in the ass installing GNOME in the newer versions of Ubuntu.

[F1.z3ro]

Mints not a bad distro.  I personally like Xbuntu.


Does anyone use KDE anymore?

[techb]

Does Mint come with GNOME instead of Unity? If so, I'm switching to Mint. Its a pain in the ass installing GNOME in the newer versions of Ubuntu.

GNOME.

Mints not a bad distro.  I personally like Xbuntu.


Does anyone use KDE anymore?

I used KDE for like a week and switched back to GNOME because I was just so used to it.

[lucid]

Does Mint come with GNOME instead of Unity? If so, I'm switching to Mint. Its a pain in the ass installing GNOME in the newer versions of Ubuntu.

Yes mint is gnome based.

No I don't use KDE but I think people still do yes. It's too big for me. When I was installing Arch it took the better part of an hour to install KDE. I just intalled fluxbox and it took like 2 minutes

[F1.z3ro]

I believe Mint comes in a couple of different flavors...including KDE.

[lucid]

Well arguably any linux comes in different flavors. But a base install of mint will give you a gnome environment

[L0rd_M@dness]

well I really like linux and everything but after trying several rootkits, looking at the code and reading some books, I reached the conclusion that no matter how great your knowledge is about linux, you still need some knowledge about windows & other operating systems.
The good thing about linux is that its open source, so you can look at the code and see how it works, and if you possess enough knowledge, maybe even change it a little to your own preference.
However, Windows is the dominant operating system of personal computers. On the internet scale, Linux comes more handy, but on the desktop scale, Windows is more popular thus more worthy of being exploited. I've experienced it that several times, I had a need for hacking a computer/network/etc, but all of them were running Win so all my knowledge about Linux brought me no good.
I'd say, go with a Win7 OS and install Linux on a VM. That's what I do, I have more than 10 virtual Operating systems on my PC, running win7 as the main OS. Black Ubuntu & BackTrack are the popular ones regarding Pen testing and hacking.