.bit Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hi, I'm quite a bit unclear over what sort of system I need, and which Linux distro to use. I know it's based on what area of hacking I want to work on so it would be great if someone could list these different types. What difference do different distros make, does choosing a certain distro stop you from being able to do certain things with others? What are the minimum requirements on a laptop to start hacking? (USB ports, CD-drive, Hard drive type, RAM etc). Thank you for taking the time to read this, .bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Cooper Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Have you tried the Backtrack live linux distribution, could be a good place to start. Otherwise don't stress over which distribution to use, pick one of the common ones (Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu) and there should be plenty of help, advice and tutorials available online for most tasks. If you think you have made a mistake then you can always install a different distribution and try that one instead. You don't need much hardware-wise to get started, as long as you can connect to a network then you should be fine. Any machine produced in the last 10 years should be up to the majority of tasks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyb1980 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Try not to get too hung up on choosing a distribution and the different types of hacking. To keep things simple, I'd recommend installing Ubuntu (it'll basically install on anything with a motherboard, a CPU, a video card, etc) for starters. From there, you should probably learn how to navigate Linux and rid yourself of some windows habbits. Learn to do your everyday habbits like moving files, etc in the Linux gui. Once you're comfortable there, start doing it on the cli. It may also be of use to learn a programming language before doing pen testing type stuff, it will help you tremendously to understand what's going on, and when problems arise, which they definitely will, you'll be much more equipped to handle them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.bit Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 Thanks, which programming languages do you suggest I start with? I was thinking of learning python, C, and Java. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steavejohn1994 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) Thanks, which programming languages do you suggest I start with? I was thinking of learning python, C, and Java. no its not right you must have to start from the basic programming language and then you can proceed your self to c and c++ and java and soo on thanks SUN GLASESS cool sunglasses / chrome hearts sunglasses / electric sunglasses / dragon sunglasses Edited June 1, 2012 by steavejohn1994 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidBuu Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Basically for the operating system just make sure that it is based on the Linux kernel (Backtrack/Ubuntu/Fedora) as Jason and Bobby said and then read up on some system calls and then shell scripting. As for the programming languages, I would probably pick up a beginner programming book in any programming language (recommend C++ or Java to begin) to learn the fundamentals of programming (data types, conditional statements, iteration, recursion, data structures, subroutines, etc...). Also, I would look up the basics behind how computers based on the von Neumann architecture work such as memory addressing, procedure call stack, etc.. Last but not least, read up on networking basics such as the OSI model, networking protocols and things of that nature. Books and google will be your best friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.bit Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Ok, thanks for all the help, I actually know what to do now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.bit Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Extremely confused after visiting a computer store. Would I be fine programming, coding, and hacking on a netbook? The guy there said it would be almost impossible to program on a netbook because of the low processing speed. I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy a more expensive system. I'm currently looking at the Samsung NC110(will upgrade to 2GB RAM) some guidance would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Extremely confused after visiting a computer store. Would I be fine programming, coding, and hacking on a netbook? The guy there said it would be almost impossible to program on a netbook because of the low processing speed. I'm not sure if he was just trying to get me to buy a more expensive system. I'm currently looking at the Samsung NC110(will upgrade to 2GB RAM) some guidance would be appreciated. You can program in your favorite text editor, SCP the file to your home PC or to a VPS, and compile remotely. Coding itself is just text. Compiling with say Visual Studio or something else may be a bit resource intense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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