Linux for VM

[XDroidie626]

So I am looking for a linux distro for a VM for university, instead of building some system to allow me to sync all systems together outside of dropbox or google drive I thought it would be simpler to use Virtualbox on my many different systems and simply have the vdmk on a exFAT usb drive.

But here comes the important question, what distro?

The languages I will be writing in are Python and Java, I am unsure of the Python IDE yet but the Java IDE is BlueJ which has a native installer for .deb based systems.

Additionally Java has a native .rpm installer for RHEL/Fedora based systems.

I am looking for something relatively light weight (I cant dedicate massive amounts of resource to the VM) so the slimmer the system the better for my devices, I have looked at Fedora Server /w LXDE setup and Lubuntu with leaning towards Lubuntu due to my RPi been able to run BlueJ.

The problem I mainly have with Lubuntu is its a bit behind fedora in terms of packages, I like to have a relatively new set of packages, best solution to upgrade every 6 months (Comparable to Fedora)

 

What could you suggest to this and have you also attempted such a system and had any success?

 

Thanks

[vorticalbox]

Personally, I would grab ubuntu 16.10 or mint. I would chose Ubuntu over mint just because I like unity.

[KuJoe]

I use Fedora for my VMs with the XFCE4 desktop. I give them all 2 CPU cores, 2GB of RAM, and an 8GB drive (on a 5400 RPM SATA laptop drive) and they perform just fine with no hiccups. I would make sure to keep good backups of the VMDK file since USBs are a gamble in terms of reliability. What I would do if I were use was setup something like SyncThing, that seems like the better option in terms of data protection. Depending on how much data you need maybe renting a VM/VPS online would be better for you so you can access it whenever you want. You can rent them for dirt cheap these days (even cheaper than paid Google Drive and Dropbox accounts).

[XDroidie626]

9 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

Personally, I would grab ubuntu 16.10 or mint. I would chose Ubuntu over mint just because I like unity.

The problem is when I have tested, Ubuntu with Unity specifically takes around 1.2GB RAM, fair play thats on a 16GB system but I don't expect it to be much better on a VM with 1GB RAM 1 Core

[XDroidie626]

6 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

I use Fedora for my VMs with the XFCE4 desktop. I give them all 2 CPU cores, 2GB of RAM, and an 8GB drive (on a 5400 RPM SATA laptop drive) and they perform just fine with no hiccups. I would make sure to keep good backups of the VMDK file since USBs are a gamble in terms of reliability. What I would do if I were use was setup something like SyncThing, that seems like the better option in terms of data protection. Depending on how much data you need maybe renting a VM/VPS online would be better for you so you can access it whenever you want. You can rent them for dirt cheap these days (even cheaper than paid Google Drive and Dropbox accounts).

This is true and I have to admit a good solution to my problem but do they allow GUI? I can get around using only the terminal but I wouldn't consider my self productive, additionally we MUST use BlueJ as it is require by the course otherwise I would use either nano or vi.

But I agree would be a good solution

[KuJoe]

5 minutes ago, XDroidie626 said:

This is true and I have to admit a good solution to my problem but do they allow GUI? I can get around using only the terminal but I wouldn't consider my self productive, additionally we MUST use BlueJ as it is require by the course otherwise I would use either nano or vi.

But I agree would be a good solution

Yes, SyncThing has a web GUI that you can access locally from your browser.

[vorticalbox]

30 minutes ago, XDroidie626 said:

The problem is when I have tested, Ubuntu with Unity specifically takes around 1.2GB RAM, fair play thats on a 16GB system but I don't expect it to be much better on a VM with 1GB RAM 1 Core

how about elementary os? It's what I would us from my desktop if it weird for some of windows features that I cant live without.

[XDroidie626]

11 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

how about elementary os? It's what I would us from my desktop if it weird for some of windows features that I cant live without.

I have tried it before, but never actually got on with the system for some reason, I agree its a nice system though

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

arch, debian net install, fedora net install, or ubuntu server will suit your needs for a lightweight system.

11 hours ago, XDroidie626 said:

Additionally Java has a native .rpm installer for RHEL/Fedora based systems.

 

it trivial to install java on debian/ubuntu using the tar.gz download. see the debian wiki

11 hours ago, XDroidie626 said:

So I am looking for a linux distro for a VM for university, instead of building some system to allow me to sync all systems together outside of dropbox or google drive I thought it would be simpler to use Virtualbox on my many different systems and simply have the vdmk on a exFAT usb drive.

 

I use GIT to keep my work up to date across devices. Its not difficult as you're not managing conflicts with other people. you will get a performance penalty for running an IDE in a VM. Its also very useful to learn GIT or some other version control system, especially when you get to doing group projects.

 

11 hours ago, XDroidie626 said:

I am looking for something relatively light weight (I cant dedicate massive amounts of resource to the VM) so the slimmer the system the better for my devices, I have looked at Fedora Server /w LXDE setup and Lubuntu with leaning towards Lubuntu due to my RPi been able to run BlueJ.

 

Do you need a desktop manager on the VM? I use debian with only X Server installed; I use ssh -X to open new windows/gui programs from the host. the most light weight desktop manager is no desktop manager

 

[patrickjp93]

If RAM conservation is your thing, you may want to play with Arch Linux. I think people have pared it down to only requiring 300MB of RAM even with a desktop environment.

[vorticalbox]

12 hours ago, patrickjp93 said:

If RAM conservation is your thing, you may want to play with Arch Linux. I think people have pared it down to only requiring 300MB of RAM even with a desktop environment.

 

mint 18 requires 512 MB of ram with 1GB recommended.