Kali Linux as Full Time OS in our Daily Life — Installing Office, Media and other

Before 2020 we don’t recommended Kali as a full time usable OS because of it’s root default user. Default root user is for advanced users only. Beginners could harm their-self as root (super user).

But with the 2020.1 update root user is not default. Like other normal Debian based distribution Kali also moved to non-root user in default which is more traditional security model.

It increase the use of Kali Linux as a daily Desktop OS, means no VMWare neither dual boot. We can use it to do day to day stuffs while we are not doing any penetration testing job.

Even kids are running Kali Linux.  Image Source:Twitter/kalilinux

Here a problem occurs that Kali Linux comes with it’s pre-installed penetration testing tools, and some simple and lightweight system tools(Thuner File Manager, Parole Media Player etc).

But this is not enough to run an Operating System in our daily life. For an example we simply can’t a docx (document file). So in this tutorial we will learn how we can use Kali in our daily life.

Installing Office Software in Kali Linux

For our official jobs and presentation works we frequently use MS Office in our Windows PC, but MS Office is not available in our Linux environment.

We can use LibreOffice in the place of MS office. Almost everything is same except the names and costs. LibreOffice is a lightweight and free tool with all the features of Microsoft Office.

LibreOffice is a powerful and free office suite, used by lots of people around the world. Its have very clear interface and feature-rich tools help us unleash our creativity and enhance our productivity. LibreOffice includes several applications that make it the most versatile Free and Open Source office suite on the market.

Here are some LibreOffice application which are equivalent of Microsoft Office

• LibreOffice Writer (word processing) = MS Word
• LibreOffice Calc (spreadsheets) = Microsoft Excel
• LibreOffice Impress (presentations) = Microsoft PowerPoint
• LibreOffice Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts)
• LibreOffice Base (databases), = MS Access
• LibreOffice Math (formula editing)

LibreOffice is compatible with a ultrawide range of document formats such as Microsoft® Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Publisher.

In Kali Linux we open terminal Window and update our system by using following command:

sudo apt-get update

After update we simply apply following command to install LibreOffice suit:

sudo apt-get install libreoffice -y

This command will install LibreOffice in our Kali Linux system, but it will take some time to install it depending our internet speed. Then we can easily use the office suit.

Install VLC Media Player

VLC media player is the most widely used media player in PC. It is an all-in-one media player. We can use this media player for playing most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is free and open source.

We can install this by using following command:

sudo apt-get install vlc -y

Above command will install VLC on or Kali Linux system. After that we can use VLC media player on our Kali Linux system.

Install Web Cam tool in Kali Linux

Almost all modern laptop comes with a WebCam but in Kali Linux distribution. We can’t use it to take selfies without configure. We need to install cheese to take snaps or record videos in Kali Linux. Its very easy we just use apt-get command to install it. Our command will be following:

sudo apt-get install cheese -y

Then we can use it from the multimedia apps or simply using cheese command.

Install Bluetooth in Kali Linux

Although Bluetooth is an old technology but it can be useful when we use Bluetooth speakers or attacking on Bluetooth devices. To install Bluetooth we run following command:

sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez bluez-tools rfkill -y

Then it will install Bluetooth on our Kali Linux system, to activate it we use another command like following :

sudo service bluetooth start

After it we can see the Bluetooth icon in our top panel of Kali Linux and our we can use Bluetooth services.

Other Useful Installations

File Manager

We did not like Kali’s new Thuner File Manager although it is lightweight. Did you think previous GNOME’s File Manager was grate then this, then we can install it again by using following command:

sudo apt-get install nautilus-share -y

This command will bring back GNOME’s File Manager.

Special Terminal

Terminal lover like us ? Then try Terminator.

Terminator is a special terminal looks like GNOME default terminal but it have many features loaded like multi-window.

Terminator Multi-Window

We can install Terminator by using following command:

sudo apt-get install terminator -y

This will install terminator.

Installing Windows Application in Kali Linux

We can easily install Windows application in Kali Linux using Wine tool. Now Wine supports latest Windows applications. WINE is not an emulator. For more information we can check this article.

In this way we can do our daily stuffs using Kali Linux and use it as our full time daily based Operating System as well as penetration testing jobs.

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