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  1. Stackups
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  4. Operating Systems
  5. Amazon Linux vs Kali Linux

Amazon Linux vs Kali Linux

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Kali Linux
Kali Linux
Stacks259
Followers381
Votes25
Amazon Linux
Amazon Linux
Stacks145
Followers149
Votes0

Amazon Linux vs Kali Linux: What are the differences?

  1. Default Package Manager: In terms of package management, one key difference between Amazon Linux and Kali Linux is their default package managers. Amazon Linux uses the Yum package manager, which is a high-level package management tool that automatically resolves dependencies. On the other hand, Kali Linux utilizes the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT), which is a lower-level package management system mainly used in Debian-based distributions.

  2. Primary Purpose: Another significant difference between Amazon Linux and Kali Linux is their primary purpose and focus. Amazon Linux is primarily designed for use in Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environments and is optimized for running various AWS services. Conversely, Kali Linux is specifically tailored for penetration testing and digital forensics tasks, providing an extensive collection of security-related tools and resources.

  3. Security Configuration: The level of security configuration also distinguishes Amazon Linux from Kali Linux. Amazon Linux incorporates security enhancements and hardening measures to ensure the integrity and security of AWS infrastructure. It is built with the aim of being secure by default, implementing features such as secure boot, SELinux, and automatic software updates. In contrast, Kali Linux is intentionally designed to provide a highly customizable and flexible environment for security professionals, allowing them to manually configure security settings as per their specific needs.

  4. Default User Account: The default user account setup is another notable difference between Amazon Linux and Kali Linux. In Amazon Linux, the default user is "ec2-user," which is a non-root user account with sudo privileges. This user is intended for system administration and management tasks. On the other hand, Kali Linux utilizes the "root" user account by default, granting complete administrative access to the system. This is in line with Kali Linux's target audience of security professionals who often require full control over the system.

  5. Graphical User Interface (GUI): When it comes to the availability of a graphical user interface, Amazon Linux and Kali Linux differ. Amazon Linux primarily runs in headless mode, meaning it does not come pre-installed with a GUI by default, aiming to reduce resource consumption in the cloud environment. Kali Linux, on the other hand, provides a choice between a lightweight desktop environment (Xfce) and a full-featured desktop environment (GNOME) during installation, catering to users who prefer a graphical interface for their security tasks.

  6. Software Repository: The software repositories used by Amazon Linux and Kali Linux also vary. Amazon Linux uses its own software repositories, which are specifically curated and maintained by the AWS team. This ensures the availability of compatible and verified packages for use within the AWS ecosystem. In contrast, Kali Linux is based on Debian and uses the Debian repositories, offering a wide range of packages maintained by the Debian community, ensuring compatibility with the underlying Debian distribution.

In Summary, Amazon Linux and Kali Linux differ in terms of their default package managers, primary purposes, security configurations, default user accounts, availability of a graphical user interface, and software repositories.

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Detailed Comparison

Kali Linux
Kali Linux
Amazon Linux
Amazon Linux

It is a Debian-based Linux distribution aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. It contains several hundred tools which are geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering.

The Amazon Linux AMI is a supported and maintained Linux image provided by Amazon Web Services for use on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).

Advanced Penetration Testing Distribution; More than 600 penetration testing tools included; FHS compliant; Custom kernel, patched for injection
AWS Integration;Secure Configuration;Package Repository Access;Security Updates;Lightweight;AWS Support
Statistics
Stacks
259
Stacks
145
Followers
381
Followers
149
Votes
25
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 8
    Has many penetration testing tools
  • 8
    Penetration testing tools are pre-installed
  • 5
    Runs on both x86 and ARM platforms
  • 3
    Its just debian so it has better support
  • 1
    There's no restrictions
Cons
  • 3
    Outdated versions of common packages
  • 3
    Wireless driver issues on some systems
  • 3
    Packages are too large in size as compare to alpine
  • 2
    Root GUI setup is a potential security hole
No community feedback yet
Integrations
VirtualBox
VirtualBox
MySQL
MySQL
Slack
Slack
Amazon EC2
Amazon EC2

What are some alternatives to Kali Linux, Amazon Linux?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

CentOS

CentOS

The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.

Linux

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

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