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Gathsara
Gathsara

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What Is The Best Linux Os (most stable os) For programming

I like to move Linux operating system for my programming and i can not choose best and stable os for my work.
What is your suggestion for my problem..
Thank You Very Much..

Top comments (95)

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linhtch90 profile image
Linh Truong Cong Hong

You can choose Ubuntu for debian-based system or Fedora for rpm-based system

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!
What Do Think About Arch base System.. Can I Know About your Idea?

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gopi_krishnan_r profile image
Gopi Krishnan.R

Hey,
I have used Manjaro for the past year or so. It's great for everyday tasks. But I would recommend an Ubuntu based system for new comers. It's stable and you can solve any issues easily using the forums.

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thecodealchemist profile image
Nyasha Chiroro

I started out with Manjaro. I think it's still okay for beginners

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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linhtch90 profile image
Linh Truong Cong Hong

I haven't used arch-based system yet

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Ok..Thank You..!

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mjablecnik profile image
Martin Jablečník • Edited

Arch Linux is good solution for some experienced Linux users which want to create their own environment by their ideas and know everything about their system.
If you want to have Arch, you need be prepared for very long instalation process and configuration every possible things. But after it you will have know everything possible about your operating system and how is configured..

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coddiw0mple profile image
Darth Womple

That's really not true lol, I can get an Arch install set up and running with GUI and my own dotfiles within an hour

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mjablecnik profile image
Martin Jablečník

Yes and I can install and setup my Linux Mint within 10 minutes..
And how long time it spent when you was install and setup it firstly?
And how long time did you was creating your dotfiles?
I think that beginner doesn't have any dotfiles and I suppose that Gathsara doesn't have a lot of experiences with Linux like you.. ;)

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coddiw0mple profile image
Darth Womple

Ah you're right in that aspect, I actually failed my first Arch install and wiped important data haha, I cried and went back to Windows 7...but that was 8 years ago and I was 10

I do agree a Mint installation is faster, but as I said: so much bloat!
But I am also one of the lucky few who has had no problems installing Nvidia drivers haha. My dotfiles took so long to make cuz I work on a highly customised fish and i3 workstation. My dotfiles were built over months of work, created whenever I wanted a certain functionality

I guess you're right, Arch may not be the best for a complete beginner, but I personally feel anyone can switch to it after a month or two of using Ubuntu/Manjaro daily

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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akhilnaidu profile image
Akhil Naidu

Hey, why don't you try Garuda Linux.

Garuda Linux took Arch Linux to next level
It's inbuilt time shift is so awesome that there is no need to worry about experimenting.

It is also highly beginner friendly

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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kevinschweikert profile image
Kevin Schweikert

Pop! Os

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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eljayadobe profile image
Eljay-Adobe

I don't think you can go wrong with Red Hat.

I'd use Ubuntu LTS, merely because it'd be what comes with the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, and that's the machine I'd use for Linux'ing — the same model that Linus Tovalds uses. (The LTS "long term support" is for stability.)

Unless you are using a Raspberry Pi, in which case Raspberry Pi OS (fka Raspbian, a Debian variant).

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!
What Do Think About Arch base System.. Can I Know About your Idea?

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eljayadobe profile image
Eljay-Adobe

I've not used Arch. The distributions I have used are: Slackware, SuSE, Mandrake (before they were forced to change their name), Yellow Dog, and Red Hat. And Raspbian on my dozen-or-so Raspberry Pi computers. (My main Unix machine is a Macintosh, so uses Darwin which is derived from FreeBSD et al.)

From this 10 of the Most Popular Linux Distributions Compared article, it seems that Arch has the same mindset that Slackware had. (Or "has"...? Last Slackware drop was 2016-Jul-01, with version 14.2.)

I think I'd be happy with Arch, too. I just haven't used it.

Each of the Linux distributions in that article have slightly different target audiences. What a nuts-and-bolts Linux tinkerer wants (i.e., let me build everything, and have all the source), isn't what a computer novice wants (give me a turnkey solution with a nice graphical front-end, and a browser so I can get to Google).

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You Very Much..!

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coddiw0mple profile image
Darth Womple

Rather late to the discussion, but I use pure Arch and it is one of the most stable distros I've had. Been using it for 4 years now, and no problems ever happened (I mean I did have some problems, but they can all be resolved with a simple google search/arch wiki)

Arch wiki is one of the best

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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coddiw0mple profile image
Darth Womple

One other recommendation: Based on other answers, it'd be better that you start off with an Arch based distro like Manjaro/Garuda (or maybe even EndeavourOS) rather than pure Arch

I prefer Arch cuz of the rolling release model, which means I get the newest updates WAY before Ubuntu users

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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manuelrdgz profile image
manuel-rdgz

I've been using RedHat for web development for about three years now and I'm pretty happy with it, it is very stable and his command and GUI is a thousand light years ahead from windows, I feel linux environment much more natural and convinient for web developers.
I have a linux Mint VM just for some testing, when I don't want to contaminate my RedHat with other package versions needed by some courses I take, for example. It seems it is not a very slow linux distribution, but I haven't used it much though.
Hope this helps.

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mazmis profile image
mazmis

Red hat, seriously?

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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surajsingh12 profile image
suraj-singh12

Go for Ubuntu..that is best in case you are moving from any other operating system to linux, for programming purpose. That will provide you with lots of tools and all required binaries that you may require in your programming journey.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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gopi_krishnan_r profile image
Gopi Krishnan.R

Don't get too confused with distros. Stick with Ubuntu (or any derivatives), and once you have learned the basics and feel like you need to shift to other distro (so that your productivity increases), only then plan about it.
Distros I use -
Manjaro (arch based) - My primary laptop
Linux mint (Ubuntu based) - My PC for Computational Simulation

PS : For programming Ubuntu will be a better choice as it supports most of the software without any additional tweaks. And also most programmers only know of Ubuntu and not other Linux distros.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You Very Much..!

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trueneu profile image
Pavel Gurkov

If it’s your first Linux distribution, choose one there’s the most information about on the web. Ubuntu or derivatives go. Or the one your friend uses. There’s gonna be a lot of pain, and you’ll have a lot of questions.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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aminnairi profile image
Amin • Edited

5 years ago built my desktop put Archlinux ditch Linux for Linux LTS not a single re-installation since then so many desktop environments tried and tweaked finally stayed on gnome for its simplicity many shells used stayed on fish for its capabilities removed every Node and PHP and replaced them by Docker and Docker Compose. Some people have a hard time believing that I can work with arch but time has answered this question for me. Just my 2 cents.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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mjablecnik profile image
Martin Jablečník • Edited

Firstly you need choose desktop and package manager what you want to use:
Most popular desktops are: Gnome, KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon, Pantheon, MATE
Most used package managers: apt, rpm, pacman
and then choose your linux distribution:

  • Ubuntu (Gnome with apt)
  • Kubuntu (KDE with apt)
  • Fedora (Gnome or KDE with rpm)
  • Linux Mint (Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce with apt)
  • Elementary (Pantheon with apt)
  • Manjaro (Gnome, KDE, Xfce with pacman)

Only if you are experienced linux user:

  • Arch (anything with pacman)
  • Gentoo (anything with portage)

Manjaro is rolling release distribution based on Arch Linux for newbies without hard installation.

I tried every from this distributions and I very like Linux Mint with Cinnamon or Manjaro looks also very good.. ;)

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You Very Much For Your Answer..!

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theamalshibu profile image
Amal Shibu

I'll say go for Kali or Parrot (if you are interested in cybersecurity)

Or if you need a beginner friendly os go for Elementary or Zorin (Pretty new to the game , great features) or maybe even pop (driver support)

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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cmuralisree profile image
Chittoji Murali Sree Krishna • Edited

Well for programming, I have tried ubuntu, few other debians, and opensuse, but nothing came close to arch Linux, because arch is a community driven linux os, which is extremely light weight and for packages there Are ton of support from main repositories and AUR(arch user repository),

Well after installing arch I haven't even touched any other package installers like snap or download .sh files from internet, or any other gui applications, just whatever the package we need, is present in the repositories.

The only thing you have to make virtual environment bcz it's an rolling release distro, almost everyday there will be an update to some packages, too if you update system everyday, like few people

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You Very Much..!

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frappe profile image
pancake

Ubuntu should be nice for beginners. Raspberry Pi OS is nice for Raspberry Pi. Pop!_OS is cool. Fedora is also pretty nice if you want an RPM-based OS. Arch should be cool for some experienced Linux users. Solus is ok.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You Very Much..!

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bigpod98 profile image
Primož Ajdišek

there are different considerations about which distro to chose, if you want pure stability that would be debian but that would come at an cost of less or even 0 updates for awhile, ubuntu is mix but if you require latest and greatest arch is your choice of course at some stability being lost

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!

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lexilominite profile image
LexiLominite • Edited

Choose a stable distro like Ubuntu if you are new to linux . If not take rolling distro like Manjaro and Arch Linux. But if u r not a linux guy dont go with arch based distros instead got with debian based or Ubuntu Based Distro .U can start with this no problem but you should be a quick learner. But choose linux for programming it's best and also u can have better bash scripting experience here because bash is present in Linux and similarly for powershell u should go Windows. But linux gives u best experience with Shebangs and all other stuff.

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gathsarah profile image
Gathsara

Thank You very Much For Your Answer..!