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Going to switch to Linux, what is the best distro for development?

Jeroen1322
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Hi guys!

 

I'm going to switch to Linux (and keep W8 for gaming) because i want to learn it and it is useful for the field where i want to work in. 
I want to have a nice IU so no Arch :P 

The main thing i'm going to use it for is developing but also for browsing and school work. I think i'm gonna use LibreOffice for that.

 

So, what is probably the best fitting distro?

 

Thanks! :)

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ubuntu 14.04 

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I'm no expert on Linux, but i'd give Gentoo a recommendation. 

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There is no best distro since you can pretty much add and remove everything from a distro to make it look like another distro since usually the only difference is in desktop environments and package managers. If you want something simple that has pretty much everything out of the box and will  be supported for a while, just download Ubuntu LTS.

 

Edit: Noticed your comment about arch, in fact you can have any ui you want in arch just like any other distro, but since you dont really know much about how linux distros work I wouln't recommend arch to start.

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I want to have a nice IU so no Arch :P

If you have a lot of time, you can make it look beautiful. If you don't, then I'd go with Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. You get the wide support of ubuntu, but it looks far better

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Arch allows you to install any UI you want ;) I'm using it as I type and I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between the interface I got going and what I have in my xubuntu system. I even installed ubuntu font rendering. It didn't even take a lot of effort to be honest, the only obstacle I ran on was during the installation and it wasn't too hard to figure out.

 

Other distros I recommend are xubuntu (personal preference for xfce, choose the one you like the most but for terminal interaction xfce is awesomely comfortable) and mint.

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if you want the eye candy, search a distro that has a version of gnome pre-installed, is the most prettier imo while not looking similar to windows, its similar to osx but the dock is on the left instead and is black by default, otherwise gnu/linux distros aren't that much different from each other, they mostly differ from prepackaged software, gui and programs available in the official repositories  

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Arch in itself isn't ugly. It's all down to the desktop environment you choose to run.

I prefer debian / ubuntu.

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If you want to learn the basis of linux, then why do you want a 'beautiful UI' ?

Why not setup a virtual environment and run it headless? You'll learn much more about configuring Linux being forced into terminal.

 

It typically doesnt matter which distro you go with as far as GUI as well, KDE & Gnome are fairly open source when it comes to nix (unless you want that Unity atrocity from Ubuntu ).

 

The good thing about running virtual is that you can learn the difference between BSD & Linux distros, and learning how different installers work from debian packages to repository management.

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Ubuntu 14.04.2 is what I run when I run Linux. With a few minor adjustments you can turn what Unity looks like by default into this.

 

j5X35Zp.png

 

The second point release got an updated kernel to 3.16 as well. Ubuntu has quite a bit of support built around it and is quite simple to use.

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Hi guys!

 

I'm going to switch to Linux (and keep W8 for gaming) because i want to learn it and it is useful for the field where i want to work in. 

I want to have a nice IU so no Arch :P 

 

1. If the aim is to learn a modern Linux system - Arch is actually a good place to start (Arch Wiki Rocks) and you learn alot very quickly. Once learned it will apply to most modern linux distro's. (So do give it a try). You also learn ABS (Ports like system to build packages). Further you want the latest and greatest in software the is no other rival to AUR + ArchRepos.

 

2. Another alternative is to run - Debian Testing + SystemD (learn systemd since it looks like the future of most linux distro - even this is optional). There is alot of debate out there, while ubuntu is good for development purposes run Debian Testing (since its rolling - technically you should not have to update your system ever similar to Arch).

 

For point 1 & 2. Every one complains they break the system on every update and it's difficult to rectify. With a little time (make sure to update only when you have the time to deal with breakages) & patience this will always keep you up to date as to what is happening in the system you are running. You ensure what ever you are developing has backward and forward compatibility.

The main thing i'm going to use it for is developing but also for browsing and school work. I think i'm gonna use LibreOffice for that.

 

1. If Development is you AIM -  I recommend  starting with VIM. There is a bit of a learning curve, but (similar to EMACS) there is no denying the benefits of using VIM. With its plugins + scripts you make it do almost anything. If you GUI is your comfort zone there is always ECLIPSE. Give it a whirl. ;)

 

So, what is probably the best fitting distro?

 

1. Debian Testing/Stable (Remember even Ubuntu & Mint are based on this. Useful in ensuring compatibility across a large user base)

2. SuSE / Fedora (Since they run on systemD and awesome enterprise presence)

3. Linux Mint Debian Edition (You can run MATE or Cinnamon)

4. Arch/Antergos (The later is taboo with Arch purist, the only reason its lower is because of your dislike)

5. Ubuntu (For this choice wait till 15.04 when it changes to SystemD and hopefully a working wayland/Mir. That's why i recommend Debian Testing first)

 

 

Thanks! :)

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I'm no expert on Linux, but i'd give Gentoo a recommendation. 

 

OP does not want Arch and the recommendation is Gentoo. OMG ;). Well gentoo would be really cool

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