Recommended requires for Kali Linux.

caedan high

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I currently wiped my operating system on my laptop, and I should've done this research and came here before I did. Anyways, my current laptop specifications are:

2x2 Gigabytes of RAM
RAM Clock speed is currently unknown.

Intel Celeron N3060
1.60 gHz base clock speed.
Dual Core CPU


Would these specifications run Kali Linux with good speed, or should I go with a different distribution?
 
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It will run, but this is lowest minimum for any distro not just Kali.

What's more important is whether your CPU is 64 bit or 32 bit?
If it's 32 bit then only few 32 bit distros exist and Kali is not 1 of them.
 
4GB of RAM is quite low these days and a dual core @1.6GHz isn't really a racing car. It will run a distro for sure but here's the thing: When idle a run of the mill popular' distro will occupy approx. 1.3 GB of RAM. Open a browser and you will be at 2.2 GB of RAM, open a few tabs and before you know it you'd be at 3GB.

Now imagine running an application that is capable of doing a lot of things at one time. Your RAM will be gobbled up, your processor will work overtime and the whole thing will get really hot and slow over time. Even with a 4GB swap file your OS couldn't handle many tasks at one time.

However, with your specs there are quite a few distos out there that will run very nicely. PeppermintOS, AntiX, Puppy (not for beginners though), TinyCore, Lite and Lubuntu are a few you can look in to. BUT still your machine wouldn't be able to do many things at the same time but will work very well for daily use like browsing the net, watching movies or play some light games and music.
 
Would these specifications run Kali Linux with good speed, or should I go with a different distribution?
With the specifications of your laptop you can install Kali Linux, but the performance will be moderate, instead you want to have a good speed I recommend you to look for other distributions.
 
the machine is not that old [2016] it is capable of running any Linux build you fancy but the N3060 was an entry level CPU used mainly in netbooks & Chromebooks you would be better with a light weight or a medium weight build.
 
Dang it! Now you people have me wanting to install Kali on something. See what you've done? ;)
 
If you install kali you will never regret it!
I installed it a couple of months back, it lasted 2 hrs whilst I tried to work out a problem for another forum,
 
I installed it a couple of months back, it lasted 2 hrs whilst I tried to work out a problem for another forum,
Do you mean the act of installing it lasted two hours or that the installed system lasted two hours (and then what happened)?

Either way, I'm not gonna get to it today - the real world keeps getting in the way.
 
Do you mean the act of installing it lasted two hours
Come on Mike, it took less than 10 mins to install to the laptops external SS [usb3.1 connection] it was the first time I had installed it for about 5 years, I was trying to mimic a problem in a question on another forum, but I could not so wiped it, I don't like it anyway there are easier Pentesting distributions to use, if I was interested, but I am not
 
Personally I think Kali is one of the most overrated distros out there, Sure it's a great collection of tools for 'hacking', sure it looks cool to show off to your buddies but if one would like to do (or learn) one specific tool or 'branch' of pen-testing or whatever one could install any desired tool on any Linux distro and play with it.
I think most people who install pen-testing distros where tons of tools are installed have NO idea of the implications of running such a distro on a daily basis.

These operation systems are mainly for professionals yet many newbies or mediocre users are installing them with the intention of using said distro for every day use as any other distro. It's just not gonna happen.

The beauty of linux is the accessibility to the tools that are used to pen-testing or hacking if so desired for a specific purpose or to learn about stuff.
 
Personally I think Kali is one of the most overrated distros out there,
I like the way they call them the Kali tools, A fair proportion were not even developed by them,
 
If my guess is right then as a Chromebook it is likely to an eMMC hard-wired to the motherboard, of between 4 and 16 GB. in which case if its only 4 or 8 gb it won't be big enough to run much other than puppy, if 16 gb then you may get away with Linux Lite, Lubuntu, Kbuntu , Budhi [Kali requires 20 gb]
 
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In as much as I'm not all that interested in pen testing (and I'm feeling lazy), I'll probably defer the Kali installation indefinitely. I still like their logo though.
 
Dang it! Now you people have me wanting to install Kali on something. See what you've done? ;)
After sleeping on it, I got better. Whew! That was close.
 


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