What’s New with Kali Linux

Enter Kali Linux

You might wonder ” What’s the Difference between & Kali?” It’s not an easy question to answer, unfortunately. It depends on the way you use BackTrack, but it’s somewhere in between.

The most significant change for end users would be to switch from Debian to an FHS-compliant operating system. This means that you won’t have to go through the /pentest tree to access any tool, as all applications are included in the system path. But there is more to that sentence. Let me quickly highlight some new benefits to this move.

Debian Streams Security Updates and Package Updating

The new simplified repositories sync with the repositories four times per day. This ensures that you are always up-to-date with security updates and package information.

Debian-compliant packaging of each tool in Kali

Here is where most of our effort and time has been spent. We have been tirelessly packaging many useful tools and meticulously checking that our packages comply with Debian.

Maintaining and packaging high-profile tools for long term use

Our toolbox includes many tools that need to “bleeding edge”. We are responsible for packaging and maintaining the upstream version of various tools so our users can stay current.

A Streamlined Development Method

Our source packages now support Debian, so you can get each tool’s sources quickly, and then edit and rebuild them using a few commands.

Bootstrap builds and ISO customizations

Our move to Debian-compliant systems has many advantages. One is the possibility to Bootstrap Kali Installation/ISO from one of our repositories. You can easily customize Kali and also perform enterprise network installations directly from your local or remote repository.

Automated Kali Installations

Pre-seed files can be used to automate Kali Linux installation. This allows enterprise-wide customization and deployment across multiple systems.

Real ARM Development

BackTrack 5 introduced support for ARM-based hardware. The ARM build-bot we used was a Motorola Xoom tablet modified. It didn’t last long. donated a Calxeda ARM cluster for our project to help us overcome this problem. This will allow reliable, long-term development of Kali Linux ARM image images.

Flexible Desktop Environment.

You can create your Kali ISOs with the new repository and build environments. Are you a fan of KDE or the other options? LXDE? XFCE? What else? by yourself.

There will be no upgrade fees for future major versions

The ability to upgrade to the next major Kali version seamlessly is another benefit of the Debian-compliant system. You won’t have to install your penetration test machine again because a new Kali version is out.

You can clearly see the reason we are so happy about this new release. Give Kali a try. For setup instructions, visit the . Next, head to our to join the Kali community.