I'm changing to Ubuntu and getting rid of win 7..any tips or remarks?

I bought a book about linux/ ubuntu about a couple weeks ago. From everything I hear, it sounds pretty damn good (plus it looks pretty cool). Since Im going into security and pentesting, Ive been told that using linux as my main OS will definitely help me for the future...so I decided tonight Ill probably go ahead and finally convert over...

Any comments about doing this or anything I should know before hand?

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tpatt100

I am looking into doing that this weekend. Might dual boot first got a few peripherals I want to make sure work properly in Ubuntu

rsutton

You can test drive Linux by running a live distro first. That should give you an idea how your hardware will work.

N2IT

I have a copy of RHEL 6 and I am considering waxing Vista 32 bit.

YuckTheFankees

I have the 9.04 version of ubuntu on a disc, so far I like it. I'm trying to learn bash shell so I think having ubuntu as my main squeeze will help me learn a lot faster.

N2IT

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

I have the 9.04 version of ubuntu on a disc, so far I like it. I'm trying to learn bash shell so I think having ubuntu as my main squeeze will help me learn a lot faster.

Oh yeah it will.

Just using my friends machine for 2 hours taught me a ton. Week after week will put you in a good place!

rogue2shadow

Since you mentioned pentesting I would definitely suggest taking a look at Offensive Security's Pentesting Linux Distro Backtrack (based on Ubuntu, correct me if I'm wrong :P):

BackTrack Linux - Penetration Testing Distribution

It has tons of common open source tools used by professionals in the field and they're organized based on the stage of an attack. There's also a few forensics tools there too to help with better understanding what artifacts you actually do leave behind and what is recoverable

.

In terms of general using of linux distros, I'll admit I still use the GUI to get in but I use terminals to perform everything post boot. Getting stuck on the command line actually does help in the long run as it forces you to start looking into the man pages to figure out what will do the job required. If you get frustrated enough with how to "x", I'm sure you'll never forget how to do it the next time the occasion arises!

rsutton wrote: »

You can test drive Linux by running a live distro first. That should give you an idea how your hardware will work.

+1. That's a great way to find out what other distros you might like before actually going through the full process of partitioning your system.

http://distrowatch.com/ <-- Great place to find releases of distros and descriptions of their general functions.

YuckTheFankees

I've been researching backtrack a lot but from what I have read on the backtrack forums..people seem to insist not to use backtrack as your main OS. Something to do with "root" accounts and making your computer too vulnerable especially for noobs like myself.

I definitely want to try backtrack, so Im going to put it on my USB and maybe dual boot it with ubuntu? I dont know yet.

Thanks everybody for the information. This is definitely the best forum I have ever been on.

docrice

Why be exclusive to one platform? On my laptop that I've maxed to 8 GB of memory and sufficient storage space, I run Windows Vista and 7 (both x86 and x64), XP, Server 2008, CentOS, BackTrack, and whatever else I need through virtualization. Maybe not running all of them at once, but having this ability allows me the freedom to use applications in my native OS while being able to play around / learn / test new features on other platforms. Plus, it's a very convenient way to have a sandbox where you can have multiple systems interact with each other even if you're disconnected from any real network.

Also, if you really want to learn Linux, I'd start by working almost exclusively at the command line.

YuckTheFankees

Yeah I'll use virtual box or VM when I need to use other OS to play around with but theres no reason for me to have more than 1 main OS. When I get further into my security/ pentesting knowledge then I might consider other options for my OS.

The main reason why I did install ubuntu as my one and only, so I could practice with bash shell whenever I wanted to.

WafflesAndRootbeer

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

The main reason why I did install ubuntu as my one and only, so I could practice with bash shell whenever I wanted to.

You didn't need to do that but it is good experience for you nonetheless.

Everyone

You'll want multiple drives. 1 drive for installing whatever you feel like running as your main O/S at the time. 1 drive for all your files/documents, and 1 drive for VMs (i.e. vmdk files if you use VMWare Workstation.

At work I run whatever distro of Linux I feel like as my main O/S, then I have an XP and Windows 7 VMs. Sometimes I run other Linux distros in a VM as well, depends on what I need to do or test out. The Windows VMs almost never get changed, just updates installed, they're all setup to do tasks I can only do in Windows. When I change the host O/S, I can always boot up the VMs to quickly get to things again. Saves a lot of downtime since I don't have to wait until every app I need to use gets reinstalled after a fresh load.

At home I actually do it the other way around, Windows 7 as the host O/S, and a few different Linux distros running inside VMs.

Qord

My only suggestion would be to install Guake terminal. Very, very handy to have.

alan2308

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

I've been researching backtrack a lot but from what I have read on the backtrack forums..people seem to insist not to use backtrack as your main OS. Something to do with "root" accounts and making your computer too vulnerable especially for noobs like myself.

If you're running Ubuntu, you can install everything included in backtrack 4 on your existing setup (32bit only though apparently):

Install Backtrack Applications On Your Ubuntu - Ubuntu Linux - Zimbio

hiddenknight821

alan2308 wrote: »

If you're running Ubuntu, you can install everything included in backtrack 4 on your existing setup (32bit only though apparently):

Install Backtrack Applications On Your Ubuntu - Ubuntu Linux - Zimbio

I knew BackTrack was Debian-based all along, but what I didn't know is that we can actually download all native BackTrack programs on Ubuntu (nearly) simultaneously.

Good finding. Definitely bookmarking this. Thanks, Alan.

7255carl

I made the switch about a month ago and will never go back

demonfurbie

I use mint linux it made the switch very easy , also set a term on autorun

Mint is ubuntu based

Pash

Do not limit yourself to one type of OS, if you have multiple pc's try to mix it up. Yes learning something like the Linux OS fundamentals by using it every day is a good idea, but do not lose touch of Windows based OS fundamental's as well. Remember if you really wanted you could run vmware server from a Windows desktop and create a bootable Linux desktop in a sandbox envrionment. You can break stuff lots then and it will not matter at all.