What is the best Linux OS for computer programming?

Question

Im currently buliding a desktop pc and cannot decide which version of Linux to install on it,
I am in college studying software development and do alot of coding and programming and that is what i intend to use it for.

Just hoping someone can recommend the best version for me
Thanks

Answer 1

Best for what?



On one hand a person might say the best OS for coding is the one that needs the least maintenance and never crashes, but still provides a large selection of reasonably up to date software. In which case my suggestion would be debian 100%. Which desktop? Whichever one floats your boat.



On the other hand a person might say the best OS for coding is the OS that is transparent and flexible enough so that it's very easy to customize and modify. In such case I would suggest gentoo linux, though the is a significant learning curve to it if you've never used Linux before. Even if you have, it takes some getting used to, but it's package management tools are the most powerful and flexible of any linux distro, and it's compilation from source lets you squeeze a little for performance out of code, while increasing your system flexibility.



And then yet on the other hand a person might say the best OS for programming is the one most compatible with third-party tools. In which case you would want Ubuntu, but Ubuntu does a lot of stuff in a weird way, and siphons personal data off to a corporation. So really I would suggest Linux mint, which based on the Ubuntu distro so it should be able to run almost all of the same third-party tools.



Hopefully your idea matches one of the scenarios I describe above, if not well, ask the question again and clarify you criteria of what you think makes the best. Many of the linux distros are best at one niche or another.



Anyways as mentioned earlier your choice of desktop environment is going to have a bigger impact on your day to day experience than the underlying distro. I reccomend gnome3 (or varients cinnamon and unity), KDE, or xfce. You can install multiple desktop environments on a distro, so don't feel stuck with the default, play around with them until you find something that clicks with your brain.

Answer 2

As Sadsongs says, no real difference - all the programming tools are available on all distros. On the other hand, it makes a big difference which window manager you are using. Pick something light, like XFCE for instance. It has been shown over and over again that programmer productivity is strongly improved by having a light fast responsive working environment. This applies to you, even though you are not yet a professional.



I can also recommend Bluefish as a programmer's editor. Lots of really helpful features (multiple tabs, syntax checking for many languages, code folding, and more).

Answer 3

My preference is Ubuntu because of the huge library of pre-built software that are just a download away. Add the Nautilus desktop front-end. Programming needs lots of custom graphics work.



Add the Padre IDE for perl and add the NetBeans for C/C++/java, ruby, javascript, JavaFX, add the LAMP stack for php/MySql and you pretty much have everything covered except for python and .bash shell. You can do some limited C# programming.



For price/performance I have AMD64 single-core. I keep Windows7 on an 8-core AMD64 on another computer box with virus-checking software to double-check any files before distribution but everyone prefers to boot into Ubuntu on that dual-boot machine.

Answer 4

It doesn't really matter, they're all the same. The power of Linux comes from it's transparency, and extensibility, and in this regard, they're mostly equal.



I'm using Fedora 20, and I'm quite happy with it.



Basically you'd open a terminal (I've got it bound to Ctl-Alt-t), and type

sudo yum install gcc g++ emacs autoconf make glibc-devel (... and whatever else you want)

And you're ready to go.

Answer 5

no special os for programming. But u can try ubuntu . It's nice linux os . With honey colors :)

check here http://www.ubuntu.com/

Answer 6

i use linuxmint 16 and xfce, need manual tweaking to enlarge the font of xfce file manager, afterward i like that.

linuxmint 16 and kde is good but sadly the bottom taskbar color and the color of inactive window in that bottom taskbar color isn't contrast enough, bad for eyes.

but kde can enlarge any font without having to do manual tweaking everything in kde is good except the color theme of the taskbar

i can't find color theme for kde bottom taskbar which has contrast color.

Answer 7

There isn't a "best". For most programming languages, the tools you'll use and the way programs will run, there's no significant difference.