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BackBox Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: BackBox Linux

BackBox Linux


Last Update: 2024-10-30 23:55 UTC


BackBox Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution developed to perform penetration tests and security assessments. It is designed to be fast and easy to use. It provides a minimal yet complete desktop environment, thanks to its own software repositories, which are always updated to the latest stable versions of the most often used and best-known ethical hacking tools.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 109 (82), 6 months: 125 (69), 3 months: 109 (94), 4 weeks: 56 (195), 1 week: 13 (676)

Average visitor rating: 8.33/10 from 3 review(s).


BackBox Summary
Distribution BackBox Linux
Home Page https://www.backbox.org/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums https://forum.backbox.org/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation --
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://linux.backbox.org/download/
Bug Tracker --
Related Websites Wikipedia
Reviews 4: LinuxBSDosLinuxBSDos
3: LinuxBSDos
2: LWN
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try Donate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2024-10-31: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 9
 • 2023-11-09: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 8.1
 • 2022-11-16: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 8
 • 2020-05-15: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 7
 • 2019-06-11: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 6
 • 2017-07-21: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 5
 • 2016-12-06: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.7
 • 2016-05-27: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.6
 • 2016-01-27: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.5
 • 2015-10-12: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.4
 • 2015-07-22: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.3
 • 2015-04-27: Distribution Release: BackBox Linux 4.2
 • More BackBox releases...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
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  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 9 8.1 7 6 5.3 4.7 3.13 2.05 Feature
Release Date 2024-10-30 2023-11-09 2020-05-15 2019-06-11 2019-02-19 2016-12-06 2014-01-16 2012-04-26 Release Date
End Of Life                 End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 6200-6400 4000-4200 2500-2600 2300-2500 2200-2300       Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Installation
Default Desktop Xfce Xfce Xfce Xfce Xfce Xfce Xfce Xfce Default Desktop
Package Management DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB Package Management
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice GOffice Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd Upstart Upstart Init Software
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Journaled File Systems
Multilingual de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it de, en, es, fr, it Multilingual
Asian Language Support -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Asian Language Support
Full Package List 9 8.1 7 6 5.3 4.7 3.13 2.05 Full Package List
Package 9 8.1 7 6 5.3 4.7 3.13 2.05 Package
abiword (3.0.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.8.6 abiword (3.0.5)
alsa-lib (1.2.12) 1.2.11 1.2.6 1.2.2 1.1.3 1.1.0 1.0.27.2 1.0.25 1.0.24.1 alsa-lib (1.2.12)
amdgpu (23.0.0) 23.0.0 22.0.0 19.1.0 18.1.0 18.0.1 -- -- -- amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.37) 5.2.21 5.1 5.0 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.2 bash (5.2.37)
bind (9.20.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.3)
chromium (130.0.6723.91) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (130.0.6723.91)
cups (2.4.11) 2.4.7 2.4.1 2.3.1 2.2.7 2.1.3 1.7.2 1.5.3 1.4.6 cups (2.4.11)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.3-P1 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.3.5 4.3.3 4.2.4 4.1.ESV-R4 4.1.1-P1 dhcp (4.4.3-P1)
e2fsprogs (1.47.1) 1.47.0 1.46.5 1.45.5 1.44.1 1.42.13 1.42.9 1.42 1.41.14 e2fsprogs (1.47.1)
firefox (132.0.1) snap snap 76.0.1 67.0.1 65.0 50.0.2 26.0 11.0 firefox (132.0.1)
freetype (2.13.3) 2.13.2 2.11.1 2.10.1 2.8.1 2.6.1 2.5.2 2.4.8 2.4.4 freetype (2.13.3)
gcc (14.2.0) 13.2.0 11.2.0 9.3.0 7.4.0 5.3.1 4.8.2 4.6.3 4.5.2 gcc (14.2.0)
gimp (2.10.38) 2.10.36 2.10.30 2.10.18 2.8.22 2.8.16 2.8.10 2.6.12 -- gimp (2.10.38)
glibc (2.40) 2.39 2.35 2.31 2.27 2.23 2.19 2.15 2.13 glibc (2.40)
gnome-shell (47.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (47.1)
gnucash (5.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnucash (5.9)
gnumeric (1.12.57) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.10.13 gnumeric (1.12.57)
grub (2.12) 2.12 2.06 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 1.99 1.99rc1 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.16.5) 4.14.2 3.24.33 3.24.18 3.22.30 3.18.9 2.24.23 2.24.10 2.24.4 gtk (4.16.5)
httpd (2.4.62) -- -- -- 2.4.29 2.4.18 2.4.7 2.2.22 2.2.17 httpd (2.4.62)
inkscape (1.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4)
k3b (24.08.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- k3b (24.08.2)
kmod (33) 31 29 27 24 22 15 -- -- kmod (33)
krita (5.2.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (5.2.8)
LibreOffice (24.8.2) 24.2.6 7.3.7 6.4.3 6.2.4 6.1.4 4.2.8 4.1.4rc2 -- LibreOffice (24.8.2)
linux (6.11.6) 6.8 5.15 5.4 4.18 4.15 4.4 3.11 2.6.38 linux (6.11.6)
Package 9 8.1 7 6 5.3 4.7 3.13 2.05 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (11.4.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (11.4.4)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (24.2.6) 24.0.9 23.0.4 20.0.4 18.2.8 18.0.5 11.2.0 8.0.4 7.10.2 mesa (24.2.6)
mysql (9.1.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.1.0)
nautilus (47.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nautilus (47.0)
NVIDIA (560.35.03) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (560.35.03)
openbox (3.6.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (23.0.1) 21.0.4 11.0.20.1 11.0.7 11.0.3 8u191 7u121 7u25 -- openjdk (23.0.1)
openssh (9.9p1) 9.6p1 8.9p1 8.2p1 7.6p1 7.2p2 6.6p1 5.9p1 5.8p1 openssh (9.9p1)
openssl (3.4.0) 3.0.13 3.0.2 1.1.1f 1.1.0g 1.0.2g 1.0.1f 1.0.1 0.9.8o openssl (3.4.0)
perl (5.40.0) 5.38.2 5.34.0 5.30.0 5.26.1 5.22.1 5.18.2 5.14.2 5.10.1 perl (5.40.0)
php (8.3.13) -- -- -- -- -- 5.5.9 5.3.10 5.3.5 php (8.3.13)
plasma-desktop (6.2.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.2.2)
postfix (3.9.0) -- -- -- 3.3.0 -- -- 2.8.5 2.8.5 postfix (3.9.0)
postgresql (17.0) -- -- -- -- -- 9.3.15 9.1.11 8.4.11 postgresql (17.0)
Python (3.13.0) 3.12.3 3.10.6 3.8.2 3.6.7 2.7.12 2.7.5 2.7.3 2.7.1 Python (3.13.0)
qt (6.8.0) 6.4.2 5.15.3 5.12.8 5.9.5 5.5.1 4.8.5 4.8.1 4.7.2 qt (6.8.0)
samba (4.21.1) -- -- -- -- -- 4.3.11 3.6.3 3.5.8 samba (4.21.1)
systemd (256.7) 255.4 249.11 245.4 237 229 204 -- -- systemd (256.7)
thunderbird (132.0) snap 115.4.1 68.7.0 60.7.0 60.4.0 45.5.1 24.2.0 11.0.1 thunderbird (132.0)
vim (9.1) 9.1 8.2 8.1 8.0 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.3 vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) 3.0.20 3.0.16 3.0.9.2 3.0.4 2.2.2 -- 2.0.8 1.1.9 vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.23.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.23.1)
xfdesktop (4.18.1) 4.18.1 4.16.0 4.14.2 4.12.3 4.12.3 4.11.8 4.8.3 4.8.3 xfdesktop (4.18.1)
xorg-server (21.1.14) 21.1.12 21.1.4 1.20.8 1.19.6 1.18.4 1.15.1 1.11.4 1.10.1 xorg-server (21.1.14)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for BackBox Linux

Average rating
8.3
from 3 review(s)



What are your thoughts on BackBox Linux?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 8
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-07-09
Votes: 21


This distro may not be as flashy as some of the other "Pen Test" distros but it is a useful and easy to learn OS. the base install includes many of the standard tools of the trade. However, you can install and use other tools, of the trade, by doing what Linux is made for. Customization is easy and I personally have never had an issue with installing the base system in any way. Patches and updates are easy to manage and again being a DEB/Ubuntu means no mysteries or gotchas await the committed Linux user.
I am also to understand that another high profile "Pen Test" distro is a branch of BackBox.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 8
Rating: 5
Date: 2022-11-17
Votes: 3


This is basically what I call a "lazy distro". It is Xubuntu with an extra menu. Yes, that menu is well developed, but it is XFCE with Gnome Snaps.... Really?

Installation:
The installation would not go, until I realised it was UEFI install ONLY. You can install it on a non-UEFI system, but it fails to boot.

Use:

The tools are great, and let's face it, that is what you came for, but some eye candy can't hurt. What I mean by this is that some integration would have been nice. Maybe a unified theme or something?

For security distro with malware analysis, I would have expected to see something like opensnitch pre-installed, but no.


Overall:

A middle of the road distro that feels unfinished (unpolished)




Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 7
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-05-25
Votes: 31


A really good distro... an underrated pentesting distro of course. I see no reason for it not to become as popular as Kali and Parrot, and infact, it hits the sweet spot between minimalistic, user friendly and advance tools.
More love to this distro! Does great job!


Was this review helpful? Yes No


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