Kali Linux
1
is an enterprise-ready security auditing Linux distribution based on Debian
GNU/Linux. Kali is aimed at security professionals and IT administrators, enabling them to con-
duct advanced penetration testing, forensic analysis, and security auditing.
What is a Linux
Distribution?
Although it is commonly used as a name for the entire operating system, Linux is
just the name of the kernel, a piece of software that handles interactions between the
hardware and end-user applications.
The expression
Linux distribution
, on the other hand, refers to a complete operating
system (OS) built on top of the Linux kernel, usually including an installation pro-
gram and many applications, which are either pre-installed or packaged in an easily
installable way.
Debian GNU/Linux
2
is a leading generic Linux distribution, known for its quality and
stability. Kali Linux builds on the work of the Debian project and adds over 400 special-
purpose packages of its own, all related to information security, particularly the field
of penetration testing.
Debian is a free software project providing multiple versions of its operating system
and we often use the term
distribution
to refer to a specific version of it, for exam-
ple the Debian Stable or Debian Testing distributions. The same also applies to Kali
Linux—with the Kali Rolling distribution, for example.
