Live CD Distributions Survey

  There are many different types of Linux Live CDs intended for different purpose. In this article I will compare BlackTrack, Nubuntu, Ubuntu and Slax Live CD  and try to explain their purpose.

The first and probably one of the most important attribute of each Live CD is distribution’s size. The leader between mentioned above Live CDs is Slax whose size is only 200 Mb. It means that Slax Live CD can be deployed on computer with insufficient resources.  The BlackTrack, in turn, rests on 1.2 Gb, whereas Nubuntu and Ubuntu use only 650 Mb.

  It is not a secret that all users pick the Live CDs up in accordance with their personal requirements. Some of them need a stable system which does not take a lot of computer’s resources and  loading in a second, when others want the distribution with good Graphic User Interface (GUI) and full software package. The four considering CDs can be divided into two groups:  the BlackTrack and Nubuntu focused on the information security, while Ubuntu and Slax intended as desktop system with whole bunch of software for day to day using (text editors, graphic editors, etc).  Accordingly,   an audience using these distributions is diverse. BlackTrack and Nubuntu are most used by professionals who interested in information security, penetration testing, computer forensic and IT audit. Ubuntu and Slax CDs are popular among users which need an operating system without any additional or unnecessary software.

Another important feature of any distribution is update frequency. Slax Live CD is updated quite often, due to the changes in software, fixing the bugs and upgrading the Slax’ modules.  The release of Nubuntu is, probably, the oldest one. The last version was created in 2008. The Ubuntu and BlackTrack  have versions created in 2009.

  Speaking about available support, the champion between mentioned above distributions is Ubuntu. There are thousands forums, articles, books and training dedicated to different user groups.  The second place is taken by Slax Live CD with available forums and documentation. The  BlackTrack and Nubuntu are not famous because of their support. For instance, you can’t find good documentation for Nubuntu distribution even on the Live CD’s web site, all that you can get is other users support.

Name of distribution	GUI	Available software	User’s Support	Update frequency	Size of distribution
BlackTrack	Comfortable	Good for InfoSec	Poor	Good	1.3 Gb
Nubuntu	Poor	Not bad, but a lot of old version software	Bad	Bad	650 Mb
Ubuntu	Comfortable	Excellent, but lacking of special software	Excellent	Good	650 Mb
Slax	Comfortable	Excelent, but lacking of special software	Good	Good	200 Mb

  To sum up, the best, in my opinion, distribution for information security is BlackTrack, whereas Ubuntu is a good one for installing and using as a desktop. The Slax is perfect as mobile OS due to its size.