Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Parrot OS VS NetBSD

Compare Parrot OS VS NetBSD and see what are their differences

Parrot OS logo Parrot OS

The best choice for security experts, developers and crypto-addicted people.

NetBSD logo NetBSD

PowerPC, Alpha, SPARC, MIPS, SH3, ARM, amd64, i386, m68k, VAX: Of course it runs NetBSD.
  • Parrot OS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-27
  • NetBSD Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-03

Parrot OS features and specs

  • Security-Focused
    Parrot OS is designed with a focus on providing a secure platform for security experts, and ethical hackers. It comes with a wide variety of tools for penetration testing, forensics, and reverse engineering.
  • Regular Updates
    The OS receives frequent updates, ensuring that its tools and software packages are up-to-date and that security vulnerabilities are quickly patched.
  • Lightweight
    Parrot OS is designed to be lightweight, making it suitable for use on older hardware and providing a responsive experience even on less powerful systems.
  • Privacy Features
    It includes various privacy tools like encryption utilities, anonymization tools like TOR, and secure communication tools, helping to enhance users' overall privacy.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Parrot OS has a user-friendly interface, which makes it easier for both new and experienced users to navigate and utilize its features effectively.
  • Customization
    The OS is highly customizable, allowing users to tweak and configure it according to their specific needs and preferences.

Possible disadvantages of Parrot OS

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its plethora of tools and features aimed at advanced users, Parrot OS may have a steep learning curve for beginners or those not familiar with security tools.
  • Resource Consumption
    Despite being lightweight, some of the advanced tools available can be resource-intensive, which may slow down performance on very old or low-spec hardware.
  • Niche User Base
    Parrot OS is tailored toward security professionals, which makes it less suitable for general-purpose desktop use compared to other Linux distributions that are designed for a broader audience.
  • Potential Legal Risks
    Some tools included in Parrot OS can be used for activities that may be legally dubious or outright illegal if misused, leading to potential legal risks for users who do not adhere to ethical guidelines.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Occasionally, users might encounter compatibility issues with certain hardware or software, as Parrot OS might not support everything out of the box like more general-purpose Linux distributions do.

NetBSD features and specs

  • Portability
    NetBSD is known for its high portability across different hardware platforms. It supports a wide range of architectures, making it a versatile choice for various types of systems.
  • Clean Design
    The operating system is praised for its clean and well-documented codebase, which makes it easier to understand, maintain, and contribute to the development.
  • Security
    NetBSD places a strong emphasis on security, implementing robust security features and frequent updates to maintain a secure environment.
  • Lightweight
    It is designed to be lightweight and efficient, which is beneficial for systems with limited resources, such as embedded devices.
  • Advanced Networking
    NetBSD provides advanced networking capabilities, making it suitable for use in network appliances and services.

Possible disadvantages of NetBSD

  • Smaller Community
    Compared to other open-source operating systems like Linux, NetBSD has a smaller community, which can result in less frequent updates and fewer available resources or support.
  • Less Software
    NetBSD may have fewer pre-compiled packages and software options available in its repositories compared to more popular operating systems.
  • Learning Curve
    For users not familiar with BSD systems, there might be a steeper learning curve due to differences in system management and command-line interfaces.
  • Limited Commercial Support
    There are fewer commercial support options available for NetBSD, which may be a limitation for businesses requiring extensive professional support.
  • Desktop Environment
    NetBSD is not traditionally focused on providing a user-friendly desktop environment, which might limit its appeal to casual desktop users.

Parrot OS videos

Parrot Security OS 4.7 Review & Walkthrough (2019) | (Linux Beginners Guide)

NetBSD videos

A FreeBSD User Tries Out....NetBSD 8.0

More videos:

  • Review - Comparision Video - NetBSD & OpenBSD
  • Tutorial - How to install NetBSD 9.0 plus the Xfce desktop

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Parrot OS and NetBSD)
Linux
77 77%
23% 23
Operating Systems
79 79%
21% 21
Linux Distribution
78 78%
22% 22
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Parrot OS and NetBSD

Parrot OS Reviews

  1. Parrot is the best Linux distro

    I have been using parrot sec for over three months now as my daily driver . It's stable and has all necessary tools for programming and security also has media files that support multimedia activity . For a security distro it's quite stable and it brings out both of the stable day to day driver and security pentesting quite well it's the best of both worlds though it can require some modifications in terms of anonsurf and repository updates but generally it's great and it's easy to use for beginners and those whore beginners in pentesting and programming .. but in gaming it's whack since it's made for use in specific mannner not gaming For more info If @m.i.t.h.a.m.o

    🏁 Competitors: Kali Linux

6 Best Free Alternatives to Windows for Advanced Users
The main purpose of Parrot Security OS is to cater needs of ethical hackers and network penetration testers.
Source: techcult.com
Best Secure Linux Distros for Enhanced Privacy & Security
Parrot OS is frequently updated and provides users with a wide selection of hardening and sandboxing options. The distro’s tools are designed to be compatible with the majority of devices via containerization technologies such as Docker or Podman. Parrot OS is very lightweight and runs surprisingly fast on all machines - making it a great option for systems with old hardware...
Top 10 Most Secure Linux Distros for Personal Use
Parrot Security OS was developed by FrozenBox and is based on a Debian distribution. Released in 2013, this Linux distro was created for ethical hacking, working anonymously, and penetration testing. This Linux distro was specifically designed to test authorized simulated attacks on the computer system, which can be beneficial for assessing system vulnerabilities. As...
Source: linuxhint.com
Best Linux distros of 2021 for beginners, mainstream and advanced users
Parrot Security is a wonderful penetration testing and vulnerability assessment distro that can do a lot more than some of its more popular peers like Kali Linux.
Best Kali Linux Alternatives
Parrot Security is one of the leading Linux distributions in penetration testing and ethical hacking. It is a Debian-based Linux distribution operating system built by the Frozen Box Network for cloud-oriented penetration testing and computer forensics, reverse engineering, hacking, and many other security purposes. Parrot Security uses MATE as its desktop environment. It...
Source: linuxhint.com

NetBSD Reviews

We have no reviews of NetBSD yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Parrot OS should be more popular than NetBSD. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Parrot OS mentions (5)

  • Best Portable OS?
    Parrot Security OS is an option, it contains vs codium(the OSS version without any binary blobs or telemetry) for coding as well as many, many pen testing tools which may or may not be useful to you. You meant Computer Science right? Not Cyber Security? If you have any Cyber Sec classes I think Parrot would be more useful to you. It is a Debian distro and I think it uses kernel 5.18 right now, so how new your... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Help me with my system please....can anyone help me with this my kali virtual os was lagging on recon phase with slow fuzzing...what should i do to make it fast
    Checkout https://parrotsec.org In my opinion ParrotSec is much better than Kali but every pentester has there own specific distro they enjoy. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Assist a newbie
    If you want a kind-of-temp system which resets itself after every reboot, then I recommend tails(although it does have an option to store files but you would have to set that up for it to work and since you're a linux beginner it might be hard, especially the installation part) and if you want the type of security where the applications are isolated from the system, then I would recommend cubes os. But if you want... Source: over 3 years ago
  • AMA: I'm Micah Lee, director of infosec for The Intercept, security and privacy enthusiast, open source coder, journalist, techie for the Snowden leak, etc. AMA!
    For Linux, I generally don't use AV. Also recently I've been using Parrot Sec, Ubuntu, and Qubes. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Kali vs ubuntu- which is more private
    If you ask me I can tell ParrotOS - HOME Editition they have a set of defaults already for you without having to install these pentesting distros like Kali or ParrotOS - Security, because their main goal is not YOUR security. Source: about 4 years ago

NetBSD mentions (3)

  • Shit they exist
    The idea of config files is fine, it's the implementation I don't like. I was using NetBSD recently for my senior project and found it fine to use - all the documentation is in one place (well, two - the manpages and netbsd.org). It's when the documentation is nonexistent and you have to search through a million different websites and forum posts to find the one line you have to change - that's what gets me. Linus... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Redox OS 0.7.0
    This is what most of the existing open source operating systems are and it is much easier to contribute to those or fork one that does most of what you want. If you are aiming at a POSIX system then there is a fair amount of work but you at least then get a huge amount of already written software that you can run (IIUC Redox is aiming for this but written in Rust). A structure like Qubes OS would make it easier... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Vulnerabilities in billions of Wi-Fi devices let hackers bypass firewalls
    It looks like one of the vulnerabilities involves being able to sneak in a rogue ICMPv6 route advertisement, with rogue DNS entries. It also mentions doing this kind of stuff against NetBSD 7.1, but that's a couple of versions old, so I guess they were concerned about all the random managed access points floating around? Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Parrot OS and NetBSD, you can also consider the following products

Kali Linux - Kali Linux is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration...

FreeBSD - FreeBSD is an advanced operating system for x86 compatible (including Pentium® and Athlon™)...

BlackArch - BlackArch Linux is an Small Arch Linux iconArch Linux -based distribution for penetration testers...

Haiku - Haiku is an open source OS catered specifically to the needs of personal computing.

ArchStrike - An Arch Linux repository for security professionals and enthusiasts.

GhostBSD - GhostBSD is a user friendly desktop operating system based on ...