Ubuntu is designed for the generalized user. You can certainly tweak it to do specialized tasks, but the basic installation was put together to build a user friendly desktop machine. It has games, a word processor, a graphics program, a calendar, email, etc. It certainly has Administrative tools, like bash and other command line greats, but mostly standard Gnu toolkits for system maintenance, networking and security services. Underneath most all of them there is X, so there is some overlap. But that is a different ball of wax. Though it is a very nice window manager with built in multithreaded screen type features. This means it is awesome if you do a lot of command line work. If you know what tools you need already, you could in theory just install them on an instance of Ubuntu and set your preferences and settings to be a hardened security power house. In practice, I see Ubuntu used more for secure servers than work stations for security professionals. Kali is designed with a focus on security and gray hat applications, such as penitration testing of networks, scanning ports on various machines for unauthorized access, even root kits that help with detecting alien code, such as malware and spyware. They also have a nice suite of tools for Metadata analysis. If you are learning about systems security and infosec and and kali linux vs ubuntu to the use of the latest tools, I'd suggest that you check out Kali. Or better yet, dual boot both of these and see what you learn. This may have changed, but bare metal has its advantages, too. If you are curious about what else is out there, here's another paragraph on various unixen you did not ask for. It is system V, and has been thinking about security in a serious way the longest. They got kerberos built in first, for one thing. I've also seen Fedora used, in part because they tend to be obsessed with stable code base. For those who want absolute power to install their own software and not worry about sudden compatibility issues, this is a major bonus. Each of these are have their own downsides, and lots of research is recommended before jumping down the rabbit hole. First rule : go with what you know. If what you have is found wanting, do a search for what you are looking for. When in doubt, try both and see which is the best tool for your project. Well, as previous answers indicate, not much. Both are Debian off springs, and are based on the same Linux ideologies. Kali possesses over 300 tools for network and software pen testing, the process of checking software for bugs and vulnerabilities. Many courses on Ethical Hacking use Kali linux vs ubuntu as the distro. Ubuntu, is probably the simplest Linux distro available Not light, simple. Almost all newcomers begin their Linux journey with Ubuntu, and I did too. If pentesting and ethical hacking kali linux vs ubuntu your primary purposes, go for Kali, but experience Linux through Lubuntu or Xubuntu first. The similarities are they are both Kali linux vs ubuntu and are Linux distribution. Allow me to enumerate it. Ubuntu is a general desktop and server distribution. Kali is a specialized distribution with a just a couple of designed purposes: digital forensics and penetration testing. Kali came from Backtrack which was based on Ubuntu. These days Kali is based on Debian. Since Ubuntu is also based on Debian there are several underneath similarities. However, since their focus are so different, they may not seem so similar after all. For instance, Ubuntu comes with a music player, and movie player, and an office suite. If Kali comes with this applications at all, it won't necessarily mean that their versions coordinate with the ones you found on Ubuntu. All Linux distributions come from a common Kernel and each distribution port its own packages. For some unknown reason everybody talks about Kali good for penetration testing but I have never used it Linux. Ubuntu is good for a beginners but has lost its stream due to management changes and its desktop appearance. All of them are derivatives of Debian and there are many desktops to choose.
