Which Linux distribution to choose for work and programming?

[Mello741]

Hello. So, I decided to change my main OS (with Win 7 dual boot) to one of Linux distributions but I really don't know which one. My main goal is to have convenient desktop enviroment for working and programming (dual screen) but as lightweight as possible. I don't need any special effects, I just need simple and comfortable desktop enviroment. I have some experience with Ubuntu but not very much, I know basic things.

I have Asus N53SM laptop with these specifications:

15.6-inch glossy 720p display (1366x768 resolution)t

Intel Core i7-2670QM quad-core processor (2.2GHz, up to 3.1GHz Turbo Boost, 6MB cache, 45W TDP)

Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics card w/ 2GB memory

4GB DDR3-1333 RAM (max. supported)

500GB 7200RPM hard drive + Westen Digital 1TB 3.5" External HDD

Atheros AR9002WB-1NG

Integrated Bluetooth wireless

Integrated 720p webcam

Internal tray-load DVD burner (DS8A8SH)

6-cell li-ion battery (56Whr, 5200mAh)

[MidnightDevil]

Debian. Even though I see lot's of people using Ubuntu and have no issues with it.

[Haggis Veteran]

I use Opensuse and i like it, but for lightweight i hear Arch Mentioned a lot

[Mello741]

And what about Linux Mint?

[bjoswald]

I assume any of the major ones could be configured to be a development environment, but to answer your question, I read somewhere that Linus Torvalds himself said Fedora is ideal for development work. Perhaps you could try that?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Do you want a stable working environment or bleeding edge software?

For a stable working environment I would suggest Debian 6.0 or CentOS. Maybe Ubuntu 12.04 if you enjoy the Unity desktop.

If you want bleeding edge software, install Fedora or Arch.

[deep1234]

I know this is off the topic but. I would like to ask what programming language you are going to use?

[Mello741]

Do you want a stable working environment or bleeding edge software?

For a stable working environment I would suggest Debian 6.0 or CentOS. Maybe Ubuntu 12.04 if you enjoy the Unity desktop.

If you want bleeding edge software, install Fedora or Arch.

It doesn't matter really. I were thinking about Arch now. It has one of the best documentations that I've ever seen and you can configure a lot, so it can be everything - with lots of effects or simple ant lightweight. I think it should be a great experience with Linux. It's hard to choose really.

Let's say that I'll stay with Arch. What about desktop enviroment? LXDE, XFCE, Gnome? What's the difference of them in performance?

I know this is off the topic but. I would like to ask what programming language you are going to use?

Python, later Java maybe.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

For general use I use Arch for it's lightness and configurability. For development though I always found Fedora to be a great distro. It's tooled up to the eyeballs and bleeding edge too so you can always develop with the latest stuff.

EDIT:

Let's say that I'll stay with Arch. What about desktop enviroment? LXDE, XFCE, Gnome? What's the difference of them in performance?

Personally I'm an XFCE guy, always have been. Very customizable, and very lightweight too. It doesn't have many dependencies and in general I find that it just stays out of the way when I'm working. I find Gnome to be too bloated (although my experience with Gnome 3 is limited), and KDE to be (still) ugly as sin. LXDE I haven't tried, but I've heard good things.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

As far as desktop environments go - there is no objective best one. Try them out and find the one you like the most.

Oh and: Welcome to Neowin.

[firey]

For the past couple days (mostly for the Shift2) I've been running with Arch. I have Cinnamon installed as the DE and have Mono installed. Runs great, I have broken it a couple times, but that's just in noobiness to linux as a whole.

[Mello741]

For general use I use Arch for it's lightness and configurability. For development though I always found Fedora to be a great distro. It's tooled up to the eyeballs and bleeding edge too so you can always develop with the latest stuff.

EDIT:

Personally I'm an XFCE guy, always have been. Very customizable, and very lightweight too. It doesn't have many dependencies and in general I find that it just stays out of the way when I'm working. I find Gnome to be too bloated (although my experience with Gnome 3 is limited), and KDE to be (still) ugly as sin. LXDE I haven't tried, but I've heard good things.

Thanks for the info. I think I'll try to install Arch with XFCE now.

As far as desktop environments go - there is no objective best one. Try them out and find the one you like the most.

Oh and: Welcome to Neowin.

Thanks, it's an awesome forum with great community!

And by the way, if I'll have some questions about Arch, should I change name of topic or just create a new one?

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I would suggest starting a new topic if you run into any issues with installing Arch.

[Max Norris]

I would suggest starting a new topic if you run into any issues with installing Arch.

That and make have the Arch Wiki up on another system if you're new to it, for the most part it holds your hand through the installation process. (And is a great reference overall for this distro.) The install is pretty straightforward but if you're new to the *Nix thing in general it can be a bit daunting.. not as friendly as something like the 'Buntu's.

[cork1958]

For general use I use Arch for it's lightness and configurability. For development though I always found Fedora to be a great distro. It's tooled up to the eyeballs and bleeding edge too so you can always develop with the latest stuff.

EDIT:

Personally I'm an XFCE guy, always have been. Very customizable, and very lightweight too. It doesn't have many dependencies and in general I find that it just stays out of the way when I'm working. I find Gnome to be too bloated (although my experience with Gnome 3 is limited), and KDE to be (still) ugly as sin. LXDE I haven't tried, but I've heard good things.

Yes,

XFCE all the way, if you want lite!! Which makes Xubuntu the best option if you want to use that junk Ubuntu!

Personally,

I don't like it. Ubuntu, that is.

Linux Arch or Mint, would probably be best suited for you.

I like Zenwalk myself (Slackware based) Most of the stuff you usually have to find on the side like flash and zip and codecs, is already included in the software.

http://www.zenwalk.org/

[Iridium]

I would suggest Linux Mint KDE 13. Unlike the other major windows managers like gnome and unity, KDE still focuses on being a productive environment.

[Max Norris]

I would suggest Linux Mint KDE 13. Unlike the other major windows managers like gnome and unity, KDE still focuses on being a productive environment.

It is a good enviroment, but he's looking for lightweight, and KDE 4 is anything but.

[simplezz]

To be honest, any GNU/Linux distro is good for programming, but my personal preference is Arch Linux. Mostly for the same reasons as you, it's lightweight because you get to choose exactly what runs on it (/etc/rc.conf), and the repositories (AUR) are second to none, except perhaps Gentoo, which is also very good.

I code in C, Java (Android), and Python mostly, and GNU/Linux is a programmer's dream. However, I also like to experiment with bash, perl, vala, and pretty much any new toy that catches my eye :D

[threetonesun]

LiveCD them all and see which one annoys you the least. That's how I always picked a distro. Or VM them, or for some (Ubuntu), run them straight from Windows.

That's the nice thing about Linux, it's almost always free, and it plays nicely with other operating systems, even if they don't always want to play nice with Linux.

[simplezz]

Another thing that might be of interest (to everyone really) is how easy it is to compile repository software so that it's optimised for your system's CPU architecture. Gentoo (almost everything is compiled) and Arch (/etc/makepkg.conf) have that really sewn up. For most applications, it's not a problem, but there are a few that really benefit from targeted compilation.

As far as a DE goes, there are a few good lightweight ones. It all depends where on the scale you want to be. Tiling window managers are much more barebones for instance, but XFCE is a full desktop environment that's also quite frugal with resources. MATE (Gnome 2 Fork) is also a good choice.

Sometimes I like to do all my stuff just from the raw terminal. Using the framebuffer for playing video and games, and ncurses for webbrowsing and music player. GCC/GDB is already cli, so that's not a problem.