Before you can run, you need to be able to walk. You do so by learning the basics so you can gain of the theory.
Once you're up and walking, you need 'something' to run to (Something to aim for) & you need 'somewhere' that's padded with foam to run about in (so it doesn't matter if you fall over). This is where VulnHub comes in.

We all learn in different ways: in a group, by yourself, reading books, watching/listening to other people, making notes or things out for yourself.
Learning the basics & understanding them is essential; this knowledge can be enforced by then putting it into practice.

Over the years people have been creating these resources and a lot of time has been put into them, creating ''hidden gems' of training material. However, unless you know of them, its hard to discover them.
So VulnHub was born to cover as many as possible, creating a catalogue of 'stuff' that is (legally) 'breakable, hackable & exploitable' - allowing you to learn in a safe environment and practise 'stuff' out.
When something is added to VulnHub's database it will be indexed as best as possible, to try and give you the best match possible for what you're wishing to learn or experiment with. We will also ask for permission from the original source to mirror the material and to preserve the resources.

We hope that the community will come together to help each other learn, either by making new material or providing walkthroughs/solutions for existing solutions to help other people.

You can watch someone else...
Then follow along at the same time...
Afterwards set it up yourself & then try to do it (so you have an insight into the system - white box testing)...
Finally you can start on an unknown source (black box testing)...
...and if you get stuck you can always ask for a nudge!