Which Linux distro is best for developers?

Hi, fellow human beings. Hope you are having a warm weekend. I am not :\ for some reason, my room is colder than usual. Anyway.

I come from Windows background and I've used mostly Windows systems(except few months of Ubuntu in between) so far. And I see some limitations. Since my servers are Linux based, it makes sense to work in a similar environment. So, I am planning to completely switch to some Linux distro.

Windows do come with a few goodies such as being able to play games and use photoshop and so on. But I am not a gamer and I don't use photoshop as much as I used to. At this point, I need a good development environment. So which Linux distro you guys use, why and which is the best for development in your opinion?

My stacks are CPP, PHP, Python and JS. If that's necessary to answer my question -- for some reason.

Thanks! :)

All my servers are running on Ubuntu, myself I have a DELL dual booting Ubuntu and Windows, as some Python development doesn't work well on Windows (missing libraries for Windows and haven't configured Docker yet, long story) and then I also have my MacBook. I use all 3.

I used to use VirtualBox. Now the game changer for me is setting up the environments in Docker which I just boot up on either OS and from there I don't really mind what else.

I think Windows 10 has become very nice, the thing I always hated most about Windows was those damn window borders, they are gone. I love the interface and feel of my MacBook too.

The OS is just like your chair, if you can sit on it, it's fine. If it's blue or red, doesn't matter and you can put your favourite pillow on all of them.

Hahaha. Pretty good analogy. Liked it! I am back on Windows too.

Given you're doing this for a good/reliable dev environment, I'd go with popular and reasonably well-supported: Ubuntu.

You could also try running up dev tools in a couple of flavours of WSL , to see how your specific stuff goes.

Arch linux alongside win7 . gnome desktop environment is what im currently creating as a previous developer referred me to arch . Arch doesnt come with a desktoo because it can be configured into any one you like . Freedom of choice.

Arch doesnt come with a desktoo because it can be configured into any one you like

which is true for almost every linux distro. esp those who have a server setup so ubuntu server also does not give you an desktop client for example ... or centOS and so on.

you always have freedom of choice .... it's linux that's the whole idea :) as long as you can compile the libraries and the kernel supports it. :)

This one is very simple, try out Pop_Os it looks good. plus the shortcuts it uses are perfect. It makes sure you are using your mouse less.

I would say ubuntu and it's derivatives :) as Mark pointed out .... it should be easy for devs.

We can go for personal taste and rolling releases etc, but it's not as fixed to stability and open-source as debian so you stay up to date and you get things like firefox instead of icefox etc ...

It's the mac of linux-distros so to say ;) .... one advice I can give is .... wait ~ 2 months before doing the dist upgrades :) .... so the biggest kinks are fixed.

Although as an advanced linux user I recommend trying out different distros :) ... I am an arch user.

This might be unpopular among the people attracted to this question, but my recommendation is to pick one that is easy and popular.

It's really easy to slowly get dragged into maintenance and customization work. It's a real risk. We're all programmers, we like computers to work ~~well~~ perfectly, and we'll be damned if we let some glitch exist.

But you know what's even better than configuring libraries to be adapted to your needs? Saving a whole day.

In my humble opinion, the distributions are similar enough that most let you do your scripting, customization and automation needs very well. So instead of focussing on small differences, choose one with few glitches, quick updates, and a GUI. And big enought that if your bluetooth driver has a problem, someone has already posted the solution somewhere.

That's just my personal experience, it all depends on how personalized you like your OS. I spent a lot of time installing and tweaking stuff, but looking back, it wasn't nearly as fun as writing applications.

Thanks for your time. I appreciate that. Putting an unpopular opinion isn't always an easy thing to do. Probably, it never is.

I am on the same thought-train. Which distro you would use on that train? :)

It's not unpopular to recommend what's working out of the box and brings the best out of the box driver support (especially for Laptops). ;)

I had Linux Mint and Ubuntu with i3 Desktop for about 2 years. Now I'm back to Windows because 10 isn't that bad and on my new Work Laptop (which sadly isn't a Lenovo anymore) I don't feel the desire to install and customize my environment again. May be in the future again :)

It depends on the job and on the necessities of the developer.

Non-Ubuntu-derived

Arch Linux = it is a server, but it is not an easy distribution, it is suited for advanced users. As it is completed because of AUR, you configure easily and quickly C++, PHP and Python. It comes with he latest version of PHP – 7.2 and Python – 3.7.1. You install quickly nodejs and npm. Observe that it comes wit the latest version of nodejs and npm. Observe that there is not a minimal distribution of Arch Linux.
Manjaro Linux - derived of Arch Linux, and also a server, but easy and simple. As you do few things, there are minimal distributions of Manjaro – Manjaro Minimal KDE which I use for my laptop, it came with less than 800MB and Manjaro Minimal GTK. You also can customize Manjaro, using Manjaro Architect, to install, according to your necessities and wishes to keep it minimal or not, for example, you can choose one of your favourite environments, select the latest version of PHP, etc.
openSUSE - it also is a server and has the minimal, but it is more or less simple, and very ideal for who wants to work with PHP and Python, it is well suited for who works with JavaScript. I recommend Tumbleweed and KDE.

Derived of Ubuntu:

Deepin OS - derived of Ubuntu, but with a different environment, it is very beautiful and is inspired by macOS 10.13 and macOS 10.14. Unfortunately it is apt-get-based, it may not be good for you.
Kali Linux (not recommended) - only if you are an ethical hacker and a security analyst who woks with these things - C++, PHP and Python. Unfortunately it is apt-get-based, it may not be good for you.
Linux Mint - inspired by Windows, easy and simple. It uses Cinnamon, similar to Windows start menu. Unfortunately it is apt-get-based, it may not be good for you.

Servers:

CentOS - derived of RedHat, it is ideal for you if you want to use a server. It is very similar to openSUSE if you want to configure PHP, Python and JavaScript. C++ is already automatically configured.
Mageia - derived of Mandriva, it is beautiful and elegant, it is ideal if you want to use a server.

There are Ubuntu Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (not free, unfortunately) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (not free, unfortunately),

You guys are right. Been 7 months. Exhausted my hype over Linux distros. For some reason, I didn't know Git bash on Windows can(could?) run .sh files - which is what I needed back then. I am back on Windows, with my automation scripts. It's stable, clean, easy to find help if needed.

Alright, I am on Arch + LXDE right now. Still needs some setup. I have learned my way around and how things work here. It was challenging and fun. Still learning.

Cheers!

Tell how it was. Did you like?

I did like it. Just by installing the Arch distro made me understand a few stuff that I didn't know before. It was a pretty good experience. Then I moved to Ubuntu, used it for the last 5-6 months. Then back on Windows at the moment.

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