Linux flavor for web development

[matches]

Hello all,

I have decided to dedicate a box to Linux and try to completely ween my self from MS (excluding testing). However, I am really unclear on which version I should go with. I have looked at the comparisons of the different flavors and done lots of searching. I basically want to be able to do my web development (PHP and RoR) and design (GIMP I suppose) with out too much hassle. I am proficient with command line in Win. So I can hold my own and learn what I need to there, however I know I do not want something like Slackware because it sounds like way too much work just so that I can get to dev/design work. At the same time I do want distribution that will allow me to get dirty when I want to. I keep leaning towards Ubuntu but I am not sure if that is just hype dragging me in.

What do you think the best distribution is for web design work? I also would like to use it for music recording purposes too, maybe you could give your opinion on that as well.

Your input is appreciated, thanks!

[rudie_rage]

The beauty of linux is that you can do pretty much anything with any mainstream distro. Ubuntu is a good place to start since it has a huge community backing it up. It also supports an insane amount of hardware right out of the box.

The biggest reason new people are pointed towards ubuntu isnt because its a 'dumbed down' distro or anything. Its because there is a nice graphical option for most things you need. Its very desktop oriented, however, the terminal is only a few clicks away and all the power of any high end linux distro is still there.

So you can do anything in ubuntu you could do in another distro as far as running programs go. Once its installed your free to install/remove things until it runs completely customized to your needs.

Most other OS's assume you can use the command line fairly well, where as ubuntu gives you a starting point to learn without hindering your linux experience. I vote ubuntu for your OS, but thats the great thing: the choice is really yours.

[Cabhan]

ruide is 100% correct. All distros are Linux and support the same software. The difference is the default software, the way of installing packages, the basic philosophy of running the software, etc.

Ubuntu is certainly the most popular new user distro these days. It comes as a LiveCD, which allows you to boot and run Linux without ever touching your hard drive. You can then install it if you want. Many other distros come as LiveCDs, if you want to play around with a few and see how they work and compare.

While a distro like Slackware seems like "a lot of work", you may find that you like being able to control every aspect of your environment. Ubuntu does offer you a lot of control, but distros like Gentoo, Debian, Slackware, etc. do offer more.

As far as the software you'll want, well, for all development, you basically need a text editor. vi and Emacs are both terminal editors that are EXTREMELY powerful, and very popular. There's also gedit and kate (for Gnome and KDE respectively), which are programmer editors as well. Bluefish is a popular web developer editor, and there's also Nvu (WYSIWYG).

It should be noted that Windows DOS compared to Bash (the Linux shell) is pretty similar to comparing grass to a redwood. So while your DOS knowledge may help you, Bash is infinitely more powerful, and you should expect to have to learn before you can master it.

If you check out the Distro Quiz, you may get a better idea of a good distro for you.

[rudie_rage]

It should be noted that Windows DOS compared to Bash (the Linux shell) is pretty similar to comparing grass to a redwood. So while your DOS knowledge may help you, Bash is infinitely more powerful, and you should expect to have to learn before you can master it.

slightly off topic but kinda humorous... I was fixing a friends windows xp computer, so naturally I drop to the command prompt so I could avoid dealing with crappy gui's (I guess sometimes crappy shells are better for me) and it drove me nuts trying to use different commands for the same thing ( 'ls' - 'dir' is an annoying one ) and having to use only the most simplistic commands was very irritating.

I honestly dont see why microsoft bothers with the cli anymore... I'd get more performance out of a speak and spell.

[matches]

Thanks for all the info. After all my research that was all I needed to get me to a decision. I went out at lunch and got Ubuntu Unleashed with 6.06 dist. I will post back and let you know what my experiences were like. Thanks again!

[rodpck]

hello,

i just installed the latest version of ubuntu (7.04) and it's way better than 6.06, lot more stable.
good luck with your new os!

[oz]

Thanks for all the info. After all my research that was all I needed to get me to a decision. I went out at lunch and got Ubuntu Unleashed with 6.06 dist. I will post back and let you know what my experiences were like. Thanks again!

Yeah, let us know how it goes. Above all, have fun with Linux!