I am a semi newb to linux and given the circumstances right now being out of a job i am taking the time to heighten my skill set, i have a BS in system security so i am going to concentrate on that aspect. I have been playing with ubuntu 8.04 which i see is stable more that 8.10 after the upgrade their are known issues with network settings so i am going back to 8.04 but my ? is i really want to make a IDS using snort or some other tool to monitor traffic on my home network. i have this pc 2gig P4 with 1gig of ram and 40gig drive works great. i want to learn more about packet capturing using snort or some other tool. what i am finding is that their are guides on how to install snort but there are a lot variables that are not correct so i have to figure out the parameters myself which is not easy sometimes. is their a complete guide of using snort or someother tool that is step by step baby steps being used on a linux distro that goes hand in hand.

There's going to be a significant learning curve no matter which distro you use. For penetration testing, you might want to look at backtrack : http://backtracklinux.com/ : http://www.linux.com/feature/138325 : You may also want to look at Network Security Toolkit : http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org/nst/index.html : Neither of these are meant to be a general desktop choice, though.

I'd also recommend BackTrack, but first check if your wireless card is supported. If it is, there's a bunch of tutorials out there, both written and on video (yes, in baby steps). And I'd have to disagree with the above post, BackTrack does have enough stuff for everyday use. What I like most about it (besides the excellent security checking tools) is that it has a 'normal' folder exploring interface, unlike some other Linux versions I tried out.