On 23/09/10 18:30, Natalie Hooper wrote:
I'm getting a new computer built and for work reasons, I will have Windows 7
on it but of course, I want to install a dual boot system.
Currently, I have Ubuntu on my desktop and my netbook. My netbook came with
Ubuntu installed and as I share my current desktop with my partner who has
no previous experience of Linux, I thought Ubuntu would be the easiest.
Also, I had Debian in 2005/2006 and after a few years on Windows, I thought
it was good to get back to Linux using a distro based on Debian.
My new desktop will be solely mine (partner will keep on using the old
desktop) so I'm free to install a perhaps less user-friendly distro. I
mostly use the computer for 3 things: AutoCAD (thus requiring Windows),
music (again, I prefer Windows software like Cubase - I have used Ardour
before and recorded an entire album on it but Cubase suits me better because
I collaborate with other musicians who use Cubase sometimes) and
programming, for which Linux is the best. I also use my desktop for the
usual stuff, like browsing, Open Office etc.
With the above in mind, which distro would you advise me to install on my
new desktop? I was thinking of perhaps openSuse or Fedora but not too sure
if there is one distro considered better for programmers?
Which distro do I think you should install - probably Debian or Ubuntu
as others have suggested.
Which distro would I install? Archlinux :) Since no-one else has
mentioned it, I thought I'd get my oar in!
Archlinux ( http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux ,
http://www.archlinux.org ) gives you a minimal environment on first
install (basically a root shell) and it's up to you to build your system
from there. It has a superb package manager. The Arch Build System (
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ABS ) allows you to rebuild any
package from source very easily. Creating new packages is also very
simple, which means that while the official repositories are not as big
as other distros, the AUR (Arch User Repository
http://aur.archlinux.org/ ) has a very wide range of contributed
packages. This means you get some of the advantages of systems like
Gentoo without the need to build everything from source.
Archlinux is a rolling release distribution, meaning you get the latest
stable release of everything pretty much as soon as it becomes
available. This does lead to occasional breakage, but that is
surprisingly rare in my experience. You do avoid all the breakage and
problems associated with big upgrades and new distro releases that you
can get with other distros.
The "Arch Way" ( http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/The_Arch_Way
)promotes a philosophy of keeping things simple. The core system is the
minimum functional GNU/Linux system. You can add as much or as little
as you like. Configuration is normally by editing text files. The boot
is done by BSD-like /etc/rc.conf scripts.
Archlinux has a superb wiki ( http://wiki.archlinux.org ) which makes
configuring things normally fairly straightforward.
Arch is also very fast., and can be very light (if you want it to be) so
is superb for limited hardware.
If you like to have complete control of your system, or if you want to
learn a lot about how your system works, then Arch is a great distro.
I've learned so much about Linux from running it. It probably does suck
more of your time, but there are payoffs. I run it on home machines and
work machines and find it stable enough for day-to-day use (once I found
a setup that I liked and stopped fiddling!). In fact, it's incredibly
stable -- I'm the weak point. It's not for everyone, but if you've an
old machine lying around why not install it and have a play? You may
end up getting totally hooked like I did.
--
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