What is a programmer’s favorite Linux distribution? Believe that every programmer will have their own choice. First, a Linux distribution must allow you to fine-tune your development environment and write code. Here are 10 of the best Linux distributions of 2018, for programmers!
1. Arch Linux
Arch Linux provides a powerful level of customization during installation, allowing you to download and install only the packages you need. While this is definitely not suitable for novice programming, you can use Arch Build System and Arch User Repository to install a minimum number of programs on your machine to reduce the likelihood of any interference with your programming.
This means, for example, that you can install a quasi-system window manager like i3 to ensure that your system responds quickly when using the text editor of your choice. If you encounter problems, the Arch Linux Wiki provides a useful installation guide.
2. Debian
Debian is one of the oldest Linux distributions and was built with stability in mind. All programs shipped with Debian must comply with the Debian Free Software Guide. Packages are carefully selected and tested and included in the “Stable” branch of Debian, which means that while some software may be outdated, the likelihood of system instability is minimal, making the operating system a perfect fit for programmers.
There are numerous manuals on the Debian website, including a section on programming by creating scripts, compiling scripts, and writing scripts using Autoconf to compile scripts on other Linux distributions.
3. Raspbian
Raspbian is the default operating system that ships with Raspberry Pi. Since Pi was designed as an educational tool, Raspbian is the perfect operating system for those interested in starting programming.
The Raspberry Pi website offers some impressive guides to using Scratch, a visual programming tool for creating animations and games. A good part of getting started with Python is out of the box.
Younger programmers may prefer to learn the programming language to use Minecraft Pi, a mini-version of the hugely popular sandbox game.
4. Gentoo
Users of Gentoo can manually download and compile its source code as needed. This not only makes it a perfect match for your machine’s hardware requirements, but also allows you to determine which versions of the software package can be installed.
Gentoo suffered a setback a few years ago when its comprehensive Wiki went offline. Fortunately, it has been restored and now includes the official Gentoo manual.
5. Ubuntu
Unlike quasi-system distributions such as Arch Linux and Gentoo, Ubuntu is intended to be an ideal choice for beginners, with a desktop interface and automatic updates.
Ubuntu is the distribution of choice for the Android open source project for building source files. The Android version is regularly tested with the latest version of Ubuntu. You can also use Ubuntu Make to install other development environments.
Ubuntu now supports the ‘Snaps’ application packaging format, using the Snapcraft tool, which allows you to write applications in the programming language of your choice and package them with all the necessary dependencies.
6. Fedora
Fedora is a community-supported spin-off of the commercial distribution Red Hat Linux. It is also the preferred distribution of Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds.
In addition to being easy to set up and install, Fedora has a dedicated developer portal. Just click Start Project for dedicated guides to developing Web, command line, desktop, and mobile applications. There is also a section on using hardware devices such as Arduino.
If that’s not enough, the Fedora repository also includes Eclipse, a full-featured multilingual IDE. Eclipse may be best known for Java, but there are ALSO C/C ++ and PHP ides. You can use plug-ins to further extend its functionality.
7. OpenSUSE
OpenSUSE(formerly SUSE Linux) is a distribution designed for software developers and system administrators. Easy installation and system configuration with integrated YaST tools. This allows you to install all the “-devel” packages a developer needs with a single click.
OpenSUSE comes preloaded with all the basic tools a software developer needs, such as Vim and Emacs text editors, build automation tools (such as CMake), and packaging tools (such as RPM). The operating system also ships with OBS(Open Build Service), a tool for developers to build software for a variety of distributions and platforms.
8. CentOS
Like Fedora, CentOS is a free, community-based version. Many of the packages are identical and it is theoretically possible to build a version of CentOS that functions as well as Red Hat itself, although this is difficult to achieve in practice.
This results in highly stable systems. The CentOS repository also contains Developer Toolset, which has a set of basic programming tools.
For developers, the Xen virtualization platform provides a way to partition projects and safely run applications within virtual machines. You can find instructions on how to do this, along with tips from other developers, in the CentOS Wiki.
9. Solus
Solus is special because it is one of the few Linux distributions in Ireland and also because it follows the rolling version model. The advantage of this is that once the operating system is installed, you can continue running updates rather than making major upgrades. However, Solus tries to avoid installing recent packages and beta software in order to maintain system stability.
Solus supports a variety of editors and ides, such as Atom, Idea and Gnome Builder, as well as Git GUI, GitKraken. The Solus project website also claims that the operating system supports many programming languages, such as Go, Rust, PHP, Node.js, and Ruby.
10. Puppy Linux
Puppy Linux is a very lightweight distribution based on Ubuntu or Slackware. The entire operating system is only around 330MB in size, which means it can run entirely in RAM or be installed on a regular hard disk. It comes with a minimum number of packages, but you can add more, such as “Devx,” which contains various development tools.
Puppy Linux’Wikka’ details the programming languages supported by the operating system. One notable language is BaCon, which converts code written in BASIC into C.
Wikka also provides a number of tutorials on writing Bash scripts and getting started with Python.
