Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#61

Post by btschaegg » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 1:35 PM UTC

luka-birsa wrote: post #55

yellowapple wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely interested in an answer here, too. If the rolling release ain't bad enough, the focus on bleeding-edge would ordinarily make Arch the absolute least desirable production server OS imaginable. I certainly don't have that kind of courage :)

Got burned so bad with Arch in production. You want your servers running old and verified software.

That makes sense, yes. However, since we're talking about a dev-machine here, that doesn't necessarily apply.

Of course, this is much a matter of taste, but "stable" environments can work to the detriment of a developer's productivity (especially since many developer tools improve quite fast these days). It might be a mistake to discard a tool/distro just because it didn't do what you expected for an unrelated use case.

Edit: Also note that "server" != "production code". I run a couple of servers (OpenVPN, Backups, mopidy) using Arch (on Raspberry Pis) at home, that doesn't mean I'd use it for a public facing web server.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#62

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 1:56 PM UTC

luka-birsa wrote: post #54

demonshreder wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch (Or any rolling release) isn't just about cutting edge. OS upgrades tend to break stuff depending on your usage (something compiled against the specific kernel version). Updating your computer every few days means you can avoid it entirely.

Arch is a joke an should be considered only if you LIKE tinkering with your OS all the time. The preposition of always up to date would be great if that wouldn't mean that your PC doesn't work properly most of the time due to some new bug or incompatibility. We've run Arch on embedded PCs (arm) due to out of the box docker support, but after updating a year later we've literally were unable to deploy Docker container…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#63

Post by yomly » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:21 PM UTC

yellowapple wrote: post #51

yomly wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love cinnamon so that's a big plus on Mint but I didn't love being stuck on an old version of Ubuntu and all the associated core packages/drivers. I had some hardware issues that were fixed by using a more recent version (now on Fedora). I'm by no means a seasoned Linux veteran though so just explaining that YMMV.

Doesn't Mint stay in-sync with the latest Ubuntu versions? It's literally Ubuntu with Cinnamon/MATE and different branding. Everything version-wise should be identical with Ubuntu, since it uses the same packages.

Think it's pegged at least to the LTS ones so when I was on Rosa it was still 14.04 when 15.11(?)/16.xx were already out

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#64

Post by fixxer » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:30 PM UTC

The best development OS is the production OS, so just use whatever you're going to deploy on. Ubuntu (Server) and RHEL and Centos are ubiquitous. I think the easiest to manage in prod is Ubuntu.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#65

Post by Freak_NL » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:30 PM UTC

Bokagha wrote: post #4

Ubuntu would be the safe bet. Just pick a distro that appeals to you, since you will be the one working in the environment. Also any modern distro should have built in KVM support to run your virtual systems or you can always go the VMware Workstation route.

If you use your laptop for personal relaxation as well and like to game, then Ubuntu has the added benefit of being very well supported by game developers selling (Linux supported) games on Steam.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#66

Post by brightball » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:31 PM UTC

rantanplan wrote: post #26

probinso wrote: post #8

I'm going on 9 successful years of fedora. I spent 4 years switching distributions ever couple months until then. I think its probably different for everyone.

I'd also like to suggest the Fedora route. I've tried most(and then some) popular distros and the last 6 years I've settle on it.

What are your thoughts on Korora? It looks like Mint for Fedora.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#67

Post by softwarelimits » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:32 PM UTC

If you are a professional developer and value security of customer data probably Qubes-OS is the best Linux system you can use today, but check the HCL:

https://www.qubes-os.org/hcl/

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#68

Post by Freak_NL » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:36 PM UTC

atmosx wrote: post #30

I would go with Gentoo. I reckon that compiling might be a PITA but I'm rather accustomed with the workflow, using flags to handle specific requirements, OpenRC and other gentoo-specific intricacies that might scare off new-comers. On the other hand, gentoo makes a great linux experience for those who would like to get more intimate knowledge of Linux internals, networking, etc. It's a great experience if you have ti…

> […] gentoo makes a great linux experience for those who would like to get more intimate knowledge of Linux internals […] It's a great experience if you have time and will to get your hands dirty.

Very true; keep the time investment aspect in mind though. Gentoo is probably not what you want if things should just work out of the box right away with minimal tweaking and a minimal learning curve. Ubuntu (or perhaps Arch) is more friendly in that respect, and unless you have really outlandish hardware, it will have you sitting in a working desktop five minutes after you've plugged in a USB-drive with the installer.

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#69

Post by demonshreder » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:40 PM UTC

luka-birsa wrote: post #54

demonshreder wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch (Or any rolling release) isn't just about cutting edge. OS upgrades tend to break stuff depending on your usage (something compiled against the specific kernel version). Updating your computer every few days means you can avoid it entirely.

Arch is a joke an should be considered only if you LIKE tinkering with your OS all the time. The preposition of always up to date would be great if that wouldn't mean that your PC doesn't work properly most of the time due to some new bug or incompatibility. We've run Arch on embedded PCs (arm) due to out of the box docker support, but after updating a year later we've literally were unable to deploy Docker container…

For others:That would be Arch Linux ARM[0] a derivative of Arch Linux(it runs only on x86-64). I am surprised to find that it doesn't have a linux-lts package. What made you use Arch in the first place? [0] https://archlinuxarm.org/

Re: Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for a development laptop?

#70

Post by ianai » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 2:41 PM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #36

Regarding your important points: - All modern distros can run virtualized systems. You just need to install your favorite virtualization software (VirtualBox, qemu, VMWare, etc.). - No distros have good battery management, at least not really on par with Windows, and certainly not on par with macOS. This is just the unfortunate state of affairs with the Linux kernel. Some of it is due to lack of focus on improving th…

Is there anything that watches powertop and throttles process accordingly?