Is there some Linux distribution which is best for programming ?

[Santa's little helper]

So the criteria are:
Has the greatest variety of...

1) Languages (compilers or interpreters).

2) Text editors geared towards programing or IDEs.

3) Automatic code generation tools like lex or yacc or whatever else is out there.

4) Source version utilities.

5) Tools auxiliary to programming like make , autoconf , etc...

6) Code checking tools like splint.

7) Libraries.

8 ) Whatever else I forgot which makes programming more pleasant , productive etc. for as many languages as possible.

For the purposes of this question I'm only examining what the distribution has "out of the box" not what you can download.

So would you say there is one which stands out ?

[agilebeing]

Haven't used anything other than RedHat, but i find it to be pretty good for programming...

[flipjargendy]

All of them are great for programming. You can easily install Editors for programming and simple text editors that are extremely programming friendly. Also, you can get your hands on compilers easily as well. You can get most of the well known GNU applications for any distro of Linux.

i am more partial to Debian based distros so i'd have to say Ubuntu or Debian is what i'd use to program. i mostly use them for building websites though.

You can also install a Desktop Environment that works best for you if you want something a little more lightweight then Gnome or KDE.

[techieMoe]

All of them are great for programming. You can easily install Editors for programming and simple text editors that are extremely programming friendly. Also, you can get your hands on compilers easily as well. You can get most of the well known GNU applications for any distro of Linux.

You can also install a Desktop Environment that works best for you if you want something a little more lightweight then Gnome or KDE.

Agreed. All are equally capable for programming, and you can install support for just about any language you want on all the major Linux distributions. Pick one that fits your personal sense of style and then download the programming tools you need.