New to backtrack...i'm proud of my progress

[Dimento]

I'm pretty new to linux, though this isn't my first foray into it. (i did use mandrake for about 2 months back when it was called mandrake). Either way, i didn't use it long enough to learn much. I've been using computers steadily since my apple II+ back in the day, but as i said, not much linux.

Anyway, my wife's laptop recently became inoperable. Windows XP was freezing up at random, and when it wasn't frozen it would studder about 5 times a second (not an exaggeration).

I suspected the hdd controller was going out so i installed backtrack 3 to a USB stick just to play a bit. It ran fine..... I've always been a bit of a tinkerer, so I went through a bunch of the how-to's and whatnot to figure out what i could not on my own. Anyway, now it's saturday night and i think i've got the major stuff figured out.

I set up my usb stick for persistent changes and to also run compiz so it's purdy. Then I installed Seamonkey (always been a fan of it) for web and mail (dont' like firefox). Then i installed flash player........ Then i decided "what the heck" and deleted the windows partitions from the hdd and set it up for backtrack the same way i had the USB stick set up.

I've also got that funky intel wireless chipset that i have to change drivers with modprobe for monitor/managed modes. Made a couple items on my start menu to keep from having to retype it in every time.

Anyway..........now i'm installing Office 2007, should be fun.

Most people by now are probably saying "if you're going through all that you'd be better off with a different linux distro". I disagree, as I said, I'm a tinkerer and i think backtrack is a great way to learn the ins and outs. I've been a backtrack user for less than 24 hours and i've already learned more than i did with 2 months of mandrake.

Just thought I'd say thanks to you guys for all the great how-to's, and the search feature is a godsend.

[Revelati]

Glad to hear you are learning and making progress. I have a similer story about how I got into BackTrack. I just switched my major from political science to computer science and I took a network security class because it sounded fun. A friend in my class used backtrack to test some of the security measures I put in place on a system I was working on and I asked if I could copy his live CD.

Well once I stuck that thing in my drive I never looked back BackTrack is a wonderful tool for what it was designed to do, but is also great for exploring the world of linux and seeing how computers really work. In my opinion its the LACK OF user friendliness that makes BackTrack such an awsome learning tool. I know that after only about 2 months using it that I am still a newb, but it got me to be comfortable with command line and I also have the satisfaction of knowing that if I can get something to work on BackTrack it cant be any harder on another distro.

Basically, if you are more challenged by problems than intimidated then BackTrack is great. If you are looking for easy, go get a copy on winblows.

[Thorn]

Most people by now are probably saying "if you're going through all that you'd be better off with a different linux distro". I disagree, as I said, I'm a tinkerer and i think backtrack is a great way to learn the ins and outs.

You can disagree all you want, but BT isn't a standard Linux distro, which is what you really want and need.

BackTrack 3 is a collection of security tools, based on Slackware, and catering to infosec and penetration testing professionals. You apparently aren't interested in infosec, and if you been playing with Linux for 24 hours you certainly aren't doing penetration tests, so all of the BT3 core tools are wasted on you at this point.

All-in-all, you'd be better off cutting your teeth in Slackware. If in a couple of years you happen to move into infosec and penetration testing as a job, at that time you'd need the tools of BackTrack's latest edition.

[Revelati]

You can disagree all you want, but BT isn't a standard Linux distro, which is what you really want and need.

BackTrack 3 is a collection of security tools, based on Slackware, and catering to infosec and penetration testing professionals. You apparently aren't interested in infosec, and if you been playing with Linux for 24 hours you certainly aren't doing penetration tests, so all of the BT3 core tools are wasted on you at this point.

All-in-all, you'd be better off cutting your teeth in Slackware. If in a couple of years you happen to move into infosec and penetration testing as a job, at that time you'd need the tools of BackTrack's latest edition.

Thats a good point Thorn, as I said BackTrack is great for what it is designed to do. Yet I would still argue that in the struggle to make BackTrack do those things that "normal" distros do you can learn a lot about the the slackware OS. Ill use the recent craze to install compiz on backtrack as an example. It seems completely superfluous, tedious, and inefficient since all that GUI gobbldy gook is only useful for making my bruteforcers run slower. I'll make a bet though that anyone who ever got compiz running on their BT system never had a problem getting it running on another distro.

I can't vouch for the OP but Ill say it again, I am a newb! However I am completely focused on infosec as my inspiration for even installing linux in the first place. If windows had better tools for doing the things that I want to learn how to do then I would still be suckling at microsoft's tit. As it happens I found BT, it has everything I need for infosec purposes and provides a barebones framework for building an OS that fits my desires as long as I am willing to put in the work to do it.

[hawaii67]

BackTrack 3 is a collection of security tools, based on Slackware, and catering to infosec and penetration testing professionals. You apparently aren't interested in infosec, and if you been playing with Linux for 24 hours you certainly aren't doing penetration tests, so all of the BT3 core tools are wasted on you at this point.

Thorn is totally right - BackTrack is not for noobs in Linux - it is for security professionals. It is also not for learning Linux. So questions like "How to configure my network card" or "How to break WEP" or "Which wlan card should I buy" are misplaced in this forum (since they are not BT related, they are Linux related and these tasks shouldn't be a challenge for you when you use BT!!!).
No offense guys, but just passing the test for your driving license doesn't make you a Formula-1 driver though.
Well, just my opinion which I had to share.