let's do this AMA thing right here, because my questions might get lost in the reddit noise. You seem like the prototype hacker to me - what's your personal stack? like OS, text editor, the computer you use daily?
My stack now is a Lenovo W520 running Ubuntu and KDE, and Sublime Text as my editor. Over the years when I did this, I was running everything from a cheapo, hacked-together box to a 13" Macbook Pro, all running Windows Vista/7.
Do you use Backtrack at all, or do you simply craft/download/build-from-source your own tools as you need them?
Also, did you switch from Windows to Linux because of the available tools and development environment, or because the Linux desktop had matured enough you could get sh*t done without worrying about driver compatibility issues or other common complaints about Linux [lap|desk]tops?
I don't use Backtrack or similar tools; the only tools I use that I didn't write myself are IDA Pro and Burp Proxy (if I'm doing websec work).
As for switching OSes, the primary reason I did so is that my work for my day job all requires Linux. In terms of reversing, Windows is really the only way to fly; the tools just aren't there otherwise.
thanks for answering those 3 little questions.