LINUX: THE ALL-INONE OPTION
One of the most beautiful things about Linux, besides its inherent freeness, is that people are able to package it up with all kinds of also-free software, and send the whole thing out in one big bundle. Given that it’s (usually) possible to run a Linux installation in Live form (that is, without installing it and making a mess of your precious internal drives), this can be a good way to keep those rarely used utility packages at hand, or get your hands on a whole bunch of software all at once. So, pick up some USB sticks, get these apps installed, and be ready for anything.
FOR PRIVACY TAILS http://tails.boum.org When you’re getting all clandestine, turn to Tails. It automatically routes everything through the Tor network, keeping your online activity private, and includes a bunch of cryptographic tools to ensure all of your data is as difficult to intercept as possible. It’s also handy if you want to scrub something off a drive without directly using it.
Alternately: Whonix
FOR DRIVE MANAGEMENT GPARTED LIVE http://gparted.org For messing with drive partitions or attempting to fix partition table errors, GParted is a pretty essential app – and its Linux distro incarnation keeps things very simple, packaging it with a few very straightforward but powerful file manipulation tools and little else. Perfect singleserving distro fare.
Alternately: Clonezilla Live
FOR YOUR MEDIA CENTER OSMC http://osmc.tv An unofficial mesh together of the Debian Linux distribution, noted media center app Kodi, and some custom tweaks to make its interface as usable and simple as possible, OSMC is a great distro for that living room PC – or when you want to let someone watch some films on your PC without actually giving them full access to your files.
Alternately: LibreELEC
FOR SECURITY TESTING KALI LINUX http://kali.org How tough are your computers? How bad-guy-proof is your network? Find out with Kali Linux, which carries a huge package of tools to help the white hat hacker find vulnerabilities in existing systems. You’ll need to know what you’re doing, and make sure you use the tools properly to avoid a worrying knock on the door, but there’s none better for testing security.
Alternately: BackBox
FOR CREATIVITY UBUNTU STUDIO http://ubuntustudio.org Whether you’re interested in producing video or audio, Ubuntu Studio is bursting with tools to help. Its effectiveness will, given Linux’s usual awkwardness, depend on the precise hardware you have installed, but it’s free. That certainly makes it worth trying before investing in expensive pro production packages. Alternately: AV Linux