Distribution Mapping by Profile

lease bear in mind that this list is intended as a guide only. Nothing prevents you from using any other operating system, even Temple OS.

Overview table

Distribution	SOC Analyst	DFIR Specialist	Threat Intel Analyst	Defensive Pentester	Format Available	Download Link
Security Onion Desktop	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	ISO	https://securityonion.net/download
Kali Purple	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	ISO + VM	https://www.kali.org/get-kali/#kali-purple
Parrot Security	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	ISO + VM + WSL	https://www.parrotsec.org/download
SIFT Workstation	Partial	Yes	Partial	Partial	VM (OVA) + Script for Ubuntu 22.04 + WSL	https://digital-forensics.sans.org/community/downloads
REMnux	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	VM + Script	https://remnux.org/docs/getting-started/
CAINE	Partial	Yes	Partial	Partial	ISO	https://www.caine-live.net/page5/page5.html
Tsurugi Linux	Partial	Yes	Partial	Yes	ISO	https://tsurugi-linux.org/downloads/
FlareVM (Windows)	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	Windows Script	https://github.com/mandiant/flare-vm
CSLinux	Partial	Partial	Partial	Yes	ISO + VM	https://cslinux.com/
Commando VM (Windows)	Partial	Partial	Partial	Yes	Windows Script	https://github.com/mandiant/commando-vm
Fedora Security Lab	Yes	Partial	Partial	Partial	ISO	https://labs.fedoraproject.org/en/security/
Fedora Kinoite	Partial	Partial	Yes	Partial	ISO	https://kinoite.fedoraproject.org/
Tails	No	No	Yes	No	Live USB/DVD	https://tails.net/download

My Preference

Personally, I navigate between :

• CAINE for the ready-to-use response PC,

• Kali Purple (but beware of tool overdose) for laboratory machines,

• Fedora Kinoite for personal laptops