UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

So I've come to the realization that I really need to get down and dirty with UNIX/Linus environment and learn the in's and out's. In order to do this I want to buy a new computer, perfer a laptop, which runs only a Unix OS.

I am looking for some advice and opinions on what are the best spec's to get and where can I even purchase a box that runs unix without building my own. I want to say GOODBYE to Windows and completely immerse myself in UNIX. I don't want to spend more then $500-600, also I'd rather not use VM's and virtualization (If you do suggest this, please give me the pros and cons).

I plan to use the box to run pen testing tools such as:
BT5, Metasploit, NMAP, and other pen testing tools, as well as do school work so I need some processing speed for sure.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Well if you want to learn Unix you can start with

PC-BSD which is an fork to FreeBSD made with newbies in mind

Other options are OpenBSD - know for security(not to start any fights ) FreeBSD - good for general usage, NetBSD - know for very good portability.

Also there is Solaris Unix - proprietary and requires payed license if you are going to use it in production or OI which is opensource fork of Solaris and is free of charge.

Other choice is the Unix-like Linux system with its numerous distributions. You can find hardware compatibility list here - Hardware Compatibility Under Linux [Phoronix] Linux Hardware Reviews, Benchmarking, & Gaming Hardware for Linux - Home or on the webpage of the given distribution.

You really have to know what you want in order to choose your system or if you prefer experimenting you can set up some system and use virtualization.
Pros of the virtualization is that you can use snapshots and revert to previous state if you mess up something, you don`t have to boot from CD and wait for actual installation every time you change the OS(there are pre-installed images for VirtualBox here - VirtualBox Virtual Appliances | VirtualBoxImages.com as an example), you can run multiple OSes. Cons are that you cannot really do much of hardware hacking with virtualization.


There are numerous articles comparing Linux/BSD but you really have to choose for yourself. There are many things to hate and many things to love in any OS.

Here are some comparison - FreeBSD vs Linux vs Windows 2000
And other one - Why FreeBSD

As general advise try them in virtualized environment before you install any OS. Also don`t just go to other OS because you don`t like Windows, go in for the learning experience

Great, thanks for the advice. I actually do like windows, the whole purpose of this is for learning purposes. The power really lies in the unix/linux environment, and it is a must know for any job I might want down the line (Pen Tester, security engineer, system administrator).

I'll look into some of these options and keep you posted. Other feedback would be great as well.

Thanks again.