Answer 1

I use Linux Mint for PHP projects.

Answer 2

<unbiased>
Like Ace said, it comes down to what works for you since _you can build your entire environment_ if it's not in that distro's repo.
I will say that there are considerations:
*. Distro overhead (affects compile time). Can be reduced by stripping services, using a minimal X environment like Fluxbox, and compiling your own kernel without anything you don't need -- though by this stage it's no longer said distro but your own. It's also a hassle.
*. Repo size. Stuff available easily through your package manager.
*. Stability. Most important of all is you cannot afford downtime while waiting for upstream patches/fixes because you wanted bleeding-edge features.
*. Consistency. Your software repo should contain stuff guaranteed to play nice with all software in said repo.
*. Ease-of-use. Nobody wants a system that's like wading through peanut butter.
</unbiased>

<personal-bias>
Debian (Stable Branch) is, IMHO, the best distro out there. Lightweight, large repo, well-tested.
</personal-bias>

Answer 3

Check out this cool flow chart for Which linux based OS should I go for?
http://i.imgur.com/MEPVxSU.jpg

If you want fast and stable, then Ubuntu is Awesome, I have been using Ubuntu in my dual booted pc for 6 years now, it has the best development ecosytem so bugs are fixed for many opensource apps.

I have also tried Fedora and Kali.

Heard from friends that Arch linux is lightweight and fast too.

Right now I need a lightweight OS for creating servers , I was thinking of using Ubuntu server itself ( its a stripped down lightweight version of Ubuntu ) but heard that CentOS is really cool for this. so next in bucket list is CentOS.

Btw I hv felt that Knowing your way around the terminal really helps a lot no matter which linux disto

Answer 4

👇 check this 👇

https://fossbytes.com/best-linux-distros-for-programming-developers/amp/

👇👇

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.ubuntupit.com/best-5-linux-distros-for-developers-programmers/amp/

Answer 5

Why has no one mentioned Redhat or SUSE yet?

Answer 6

nonzyro I was considering Arch as a Desktop OS since it doesnt comes fully loaded and can use latest stuffs right off the bat ,

for production OS on my bucket list I have only got CentOS right now.

Regarding Ubuntu in production besides the great software ecosytem :
# If you check on AWS nothing even comes close to Ubuntu,
# its the best pick for network servers and in general as a cloud OS as per AWS.

Although I ll agree on the LTS for Ubuntu is not as good RHEL distros but still 5 years is not that bad.

I am still new to Linux distros in a production environment and still learning and I realized sticking to Ubuntu for so long has made me lazy.

But its an Awesome starting point no matter if in a Desktop, Server or cloud environment.

Please tell me more about FreeBSD, I follow few linux admins and they say a lot of good things about FreeBSD too.

Answer 7

Just Ubuntu but for hack or network Kali Linux

Answer 8

So based on your question are you happy with Fedora or are you looking for the next best to come ? Ahmed Mostafa

Answer 9

Sonic RHEL was mentioned: CentOS (& Fedora).

Morpheus Don't stick Arch on a server. It's not stable. I'd advise you try it for your desktop and use Debian/CentOS for the server (or try outside Linux with FreeBSD -- an OS I'm still slowly getting acquainted with).

@Everyone Touting Ubuntu: It _does_ have a great software ecosystem, but it's not very stable. Its okay as a desktop OS but I'd never advise it for a production machine.

@Everyone Touting Kali: This is neither a production OS nor is it a desktop OS, it's a pentesting toolkit. It's just Ubuntu or Debian with preinstalled software and preconfigurations to get you going. It shouldn't be classed as a distro but sadly the term is broad and just shipping Ubuntu spins with a different DE can be called "distros" by some. A word to the wise: installing Kali as a regular OS may make you vulnerable because this is not its purpose.

Hope this info is also helpful.

Answer 10

Lloyd L Conley
I was a beginner in 1993.
I am not a programmer.
I may be a hacker, depending on your definition of the term, but hardly a Super-programmer. I just play with my computer for fun.

Back in the day, when my first computer had 64 MB hard drive, two floppy drives (a 3 1/2 inch and a 5 1/4 inch) and a 1200 baud modem (remember those?), I started programming with Qbasic on DOS 4. Or was 3? I don’t really remember. But when I got my first internet account, dialing into a Unix server, I realized I liked that OS waaay better than DOS. So I got a massive O’Reilly tome on Linux, which came with a free CD containing Caldera OpenLinux and never looked back.

Answer 11

I use linux Ubuntu

Answer 12

Sonic i have never tried RedHat, maybe that's the cause. I felt very comfortable with Debian and distros based on it, like Mint

Answer 13

I started by using AT&T UNIX.
I wanted Linux on my PC, because I loved the UNIX operating system.

Linus Torvalds wrote an operating system that functioned like UNIX and didn't violate any copyright laws. I could download for free. I downed Apache version of Linux. Its logo is a penguin. If you become C++ programmer the Internet has free C++ compilers that works well with Linux

Linus Torvalds

In 1991, while studying computer science at University of Helsinki, Linus Torvaldsbegan a project that later became the Linux kernel. He wrote the program specifically for the hardware he was using and independent of an operating system because he wanted to use the functions of his new PC with an 80386 processor.

Answer 14

Ahmed, an OS is as safe as its user. Many new Linux users will be burned once Linux has a higher market share because of this mentality. How many "alien" (precompiled snaps) will an Ubuntu user install for example (one of my security issues. How many people blindly copy+paste stuff in the console? At the moment the target is mainly Windows for malicious stuff, but there was time Mac users thought they were safe just by being Mac users.

Answer 15

Remember what was good forty year ago may not be the best for you today!

Answer 16

Ahmed I am out of time texting messages. Have a great evening!

Answer 17

based on the system you have Ubuntu but based on newer machines Fedora runs really smooth ~

Answer 18

I hope you found the discussion fulfilling and meaningful ~ Ahmed Mostafa

Answer 19

Ubuntu is awesome in my opinion

Answer 20

debian