The developers of Kali Linux, a specialized security testing distro, have released the first version of 2023, marking the tenth anniversary of the project… this embodiment.
A new version appears, released 2023.1 correct A decade after version 1.0 was released on March 13, 2013. Kali Linux is a rebuild of an earlier distribution called BackTrack, first released 17 years ago, which was based on WHAX, first released 18 years ago, which in turn is based on Whoppix. . Suffice it to say, it goes way back.
Kali Linux 2023.1’s default Xfce desktop is neatly customized, though a bit flashier than more business-oriented distributions.
Kali is highly rated on Distrowatch. it’s currently #18 in the pop polls, which we attribute mostly to her appearances on TV shows. Mr. Robot and the resulting perception that this is a great tool for the elite hackers penetration testers and other security professionals.
It’s a convenient time saver for the people it’s targeting. It has an amazing variety of tools and when installing you can choose whether they are all built-in or just a basic set. Frankly said, rule It’s the FOSS desk no is an elite hacker and has never worked as a pen-tester, although until now he has warned about holes in the network security of some large companies.
As such, this vulture woefully lacks the authority to judge Kali for the purposes for which it is intended. However, as a desktop distribution, it looks pretty good. By default, you get the most gorgeous Xfce configuration we’ve seen since looking at Zinc last year, complete with a list of impeccably cataloged applications. It looks good and works well. It has convenient options such as separate configuration /home in the partition installer and when we installed it in VirtualBox it automatically configured the graphics driver so the desktop resized with the window and so on. Even if you’re just a hacker, you could do a lot worse, and other distributions could learn from the attention to detail here.
The application launcher menu is carefully arranged and categorized to help you find your way through the dozens of bundled tools. We especially like the numbering
Like Debian-based siduction, it is a portable release distribution. We got the latest kernel 6.1 and Xfce 4.18.1. But having said that these days Kali Linux is not so much a distro as their family. As well as the default version of Xfce, there are also KDE (5.27) and GNOME (43) editions. Work is underway on a new, defensive rather than offensive security-oriented edition called Kali Purple, which describes itself as SOC in a box – such as a security operations center rather than a system-on-a-chip (SoC).
There is an almost staggering variety of different editions of Kali. You can install it locally on both x86-32 and x86-64 versions of PCs, as well as Apple Silicon Macs. Alongside these are versions of the Raspberry Pi 1, Pi 2 to 4, Pi Zero W and Pi Zero 2 W, plus the Newport and Ventana USB-key-sized SBCs from Gateworks and The USBArmory mk II SBC. F-Secure spin-off WithSecure.
There’s also a version of Kali for PinePhone and PinePhone Pro, and there’s a special version called NetHunter with options for a number of Android phones. Along with this, there are separate VM images tailored for VirtualBox, VMware and QEMU, plus cloud editions, container editions and a version that runs on Windows services for Linux. The Kali development team hasn’t forgotten its various roots in many live CD distributions, and there are also live releases that run directly from USB on x86-32, x86-64, and M1 Macs without installation.
There are more versions of Kali than weapons on the Hindu goddess of death it’s named after, and it’s as terrifyingly capable as she is. We may not have felt that way when we first approached Kali, but we withdrew with considerable respect. ®