Hey,
This is off-topic, but I wanted to start programming with Linux and I wanted some opinions as to what Linux users think is best. So, if you don’t mind…
Which Linux do you think is best - Mandrake (bankrupt - what??? although they will be supporting AMD Opteron 64 bit and hopefully Athlon 64 too - can’t wait!!!), Red Hat(no patritioning support!?!?!?), SuSE (no downloadable ISO files!?!?!), etc?
Also, which is the best free IDE (interactive development environment) for Linux? Or do some IDEs come with the downloaded installation ISO files?
Or do you know of good independent Linux web sites where I can find good info and get Linux user opinions from there?
Thanks in advance,
Patrick
[This message has been edited by shinpaughp (edited 03-22-2003).]
Originally posted by shinpaughp: what Linux users think is best.
Warning! Flamebait. Asking most coders what the best X is, in general, not a good idea.
Which Linux do you think is best - Mandrake (bankrupt - what??? although they will be supporting AMD Opteron 64 bit and hopefully Athlon 64 too - can’t wait!!!), Red Hat(no patritioning support!?!?!?), SuSE (no downloadable ISO files!?!?!), etc?
More flamebait. Here’s some more very generalized flamebait.
Mandrake is for newbies.
RedHat is kinda the standard.
Suse if you want to purchase a box, but hard to customize.
Debian for very good package management and stuff like user rights, philosophy, etc.
I use Gentoo. Which is super-customizable and tweakable. Very good package management. High-performance because everything is compiled specifically for your machine. Definitely not for the newbie.
My advice is to go with RedHat for as long as it takes to for you to get comfortable with Linux and make your own educated decision. I’m not sure what you mean by “no partitioning support”.
Also, which is the best free IDE (interactive development environment) for Linux? Or do some IDEs come with the downloaded installation ISO files?
More flamebait. Most distros come with all the packages for almost all the IDEs out there. I use XEmacs. Others use vim. If your a newbie, you’ll probably want to use KDevelop.
Or do you know of good independent Linux web sites where I can find good info and get Linux user opinions from there?
Doesn’t exist. Opinion, by definition, will be slanted and biased.
Choosing distros, IDEs, browsers, language is more about personal taste and comfort than technical merit.
Didn’t intend the post to be flamebait… but at least I didn’t ask about differences or opinions about Windows vs Linux.
As far as the comment I made about RedHat disk partitioning, I meant to say no disk partitioning tool. That according to a review I read at ExtremeTech.com. Wasn’t sure how that might affect my ability to load it in either a dual or tri boot.
I realize that this post may result in flames, but at the same time, there may be distros that people would recommend that I avoid completely, or other distros that they recommend wholeheartedly. Or know of issues with drivers or stability or performance problems. Or issues with a distro and OGL functionality. Or who knows what else. Of course, being completely off-topic, perhaps it just makes it worse.
And, actually, I had never heard of Gentoo, so it gives me another option I can research. And, although IDEs, distros, tools, utilities, browsers, etc are a personal choice, I would rather not have to try out 5 or 6 different ones before finding one that meets some minimal standard of acceptability. Though, that may be my only option.
Since I am a Linux newbie having only installed Mandrake a while back and used it minimally does anyone know if a tri boot will work with Win2k as the primary, and RedHat 8.0 and Mandrake 9.0 as secondary and tertiary? I know the dual boot is no problem, but I figured I could take a look at RedHat while I am at it. Oh, well. I’ll just back up my data and give it a go. If it doesn’t work I can just repair my Win2k drive and format the others.
Also, will executables (x86 Linux) work on all Linux distros (x86) or do they have to be compiled for each? I think I read that somewhere, though there has to be some standard for cross distro executables if that is the case… is there?
And, one last question, if I do have multiple Linux distros, and they use the same file system (probably ext3), will they be able to read, write, open files from the other hard drive? I assume so, but just want to verify.
Personally I use redhat 8.0, redhat 8.1 is comming out next month. The great thing about linux is no matter what distro you use there all still linux. Distro is really what you like redhat is good with security and has most stuff installed so you dont have to get anything, meaning it is bloaded. mandrake is really bloaded and is good for people new to linux. For most programmers I suggest redhat. With the IDE thing I like kdevelop and vi. Kdevelop is nice for big projects like a game and vi is good for smallers ones.
And, although they may have declared bankruptcy, it is protection from debt (similar to Chapter 11 in USA) which should result in reorganization and change in business practices, hopefully for the better. But, they do still appear to be working on it… maybe.
Anyway, I’ll have both installed, so it shouldn’t matter and I’ll get a good comparison between the 2. I can easily get rid of it if it does go under.
i don’t want to force anyone going the way i do, but i just can’t resist giving my comment on this topic
well, first of all: i do use gentoo aswell,
and as far as i can judge, it’s the best
distribution i’ve ever seen. but: i do not recommend it a noob. personally, i
started with suse long time ago, and although my opinion has changed now, suse
has been quite good at that time. i’d go
with a “mainstream” distribution, such as
suse, red hat or mandrake (that bankruptcy thing is a good point , but do not go with gentoo. not yet, at least.
i have no opinion about debian.
ok, an IDE: do not use kdevelop. i mean,
it is really nice and it can do almost
everything, but it is (as i experienced)
far too fat and bloated. also, if you
don’t use KDE at all, you will hate kdevelop for its enormous startup time.
i recommend:
as suggested before vim or (x)emacs
anjuta for somewhat larger projects
btw, these debuggers are very useful:
valgrind - a memory checker / debugger
gdb - a debugger
also, information retrieval is essential, so, buy some good book, read howtos and manuals, and most importantly: ask your friend “google”.
i experienced that people in this forum
are quite competent and nice. they (well, we, i’d say), will help you!
your posting that valgrind is more like a profiler sucks. it is NOT AT ALL a profiler, it IS a memory debugger and also one of the greatest pieces of software ever
Originally posted by JanHH:
your posting that valgrind is more like a profiler sucks.
Thanks, your post sucks as well.
one of the greatest pieces of software ever [/b]
I’m glad we agree on that part
btw. My choice for choosing words is bad at some times, but it doesn’t take away that it is a useful tool to profile an app (apart from the other stuff you can do with it).
(especially when combined with the very nice KCacheGrind app)
Oh darn, I seem to have showed up late to the party.
Well,… a few notes to add I suppose.
It’s no longer RedHat 8.1, of course; it’s now RedHat 9. I’ve got it installed and it’s great.
Patrick, stay away from IDE’s for the time being. Instead, just pick a simple editor (like nedit or KDE’s kate) and learn to use make (if you haven’t already). Then, when you get more experienced, you can start using IDE’s, and finally, when you’re even more experienced you can go back to a simple editor plus make.
to richardve: sorry, i didn’t mean to insult anyone with that “suck” talking. it was just a joke and maybe i was in a strange kind of mood .
But this profilig thing i find really interesting… what is KCachegrid and how do you use valgrind as a profiler? I am looking for a linux c++ profiler (my 3D app seems to be mysterioulsy slow).
Originally posted by JanHH:
[b]to richardve: sorry, i didn’t mean to insult anyone with that “suck” talking. it was just a joke and maybe i was in a strange kind of mood .
Hi!
(this is my first post in this forum)
I use Gentoo linux. Before this i used red hat (versions 7, 7.1, 7.3, 8), bud i prefer gentoo.
I know that it is used by a lot of developers. But, dont think that gentoo is so difficult… i used linux for 2 year, but non as an expert user, so i cant cosiderate me as newbie, but on gentoo, the thnigs are just a little bit more complicate that an another disto…
Depending on your taste and needs some distro may fit. Here is my experience with some of them:
Mandrake.- Easy to install, new version supports resizeing Fat32 and NTFS, nVidia drivers, ATI drivers, easy to mantain. Good for a newbie.
RedHat.- The standar, good management, far easy to install, etc.
Gentoo.- Optimized, somewhat difficult if you are new.
Debian.- great package management sistem, if you have a broadband connection you can stay up to date, the problem is that current release (3.0 Woody) isn’t too updated…
As far for IDEs, they are bloated, at least KDevelop, is better start with a simple editor like kedit, kate, gedit, etc. But i never tried Anjuta.
1.) I have been using SLACKWARE since 1998, it’s my favourite distro, clean & simple, no rubbish, easy to use as a base, when you are going to compile and install the “rest” yourself.
2.) Emacs (or vi)
3.)
you SHOULD use cvs and the GNU build system - you will save yourself a lots of trouble.
