Is Kali for me?

[fgarci03]

Hello guys,

I'm a Linux newbie(-ish) user. Long story short, I've always liked computers and we all get along well. I've used Linux about 10 years ago when I was discovering there were OS's other than Windows. Didn't go too far with it, learned the basic commands and how to move around. Recently, all those feeling re-surfaced, and I decided Windows didn't provide me with what I needed anymore: freedom.

So I ended up formating my whole system a few weeks ago, and now I'm a full fledged Linux user (still learning the basics, but I've found 99% of the stuf I need and like, so I can say I'm 0% dependant on a Windows system now!)


So what is my problem?

I have an Asus eeePC 1005HA laying arround. For those who don't know, it has 1.6GHz processor and 1Gb RAM, so it will run mostly any Linux I want (so to speak...)
I came accross Kali Linux yesterday and I must say I'm in love. So I installed it on the netbook and I enjoyed it.
So what's the deal?

First, although it's not slow (it really isn't), it's not as smooth as I like. I was thinking of changing Desktop environment to LXDE or Xfce (still looking into them to decide) but then I came accross this awfull feeling:

I'm not a PenTester or Hacker.
I do love both scenarios, and I fell in love for Kali because it allows me to learn about security. But I still want to use the laptop for other stuff. I want to be able to take it to college, to play videos and youtube. Basically I need a great browser in there (my choice is Chrome - not Chromium, although it's just personal preference), and maybe libre office (although I can use Microsoft Online, which I'm used to). I also want to be able to install Dropbox and such software, so I can have my work synced in the cloud.

So how can I make this OS work for me? I read it's possible to add Debian/Ubuntu/MINT repositories and the packages are compatible. Is that true? Can I add a repo and install chrome, for example?


I really don't like the idea of having a bootable thumbdrive/CD, nor dual booting, specially on such a weak equipment (although I will accept suggestions from you who know a lot more than me).
But I prefer a single clean OS install, that suits all my needs.


Do you think I'm chosing wisely? Or maybe I should just instal MINT (for example) and download tools by hand (not necessarily the 300 tools, but going on installing while I learn about them).

Thank you in advance!

[sickn3ss]

Hey

You can do a lot of things with Kali, even though it is mainly focused for pentesters you can always give it a "secondary role". You can always add a user to your installation so you don't always run as root when it's not needed then just install Flash Plugin, Libre Office, etc.

You should be able to customize Kali for your purposes.