the forbidden question: which distro...

phonky

Yes, I dare to pose the forbidden question.

Thing is, I used to use SuSE 4.x back in 1996, and since have been trying and using a whole lot of different distros, from Damn Small Linux to Arch to Ubuntu, at work or for private use.

I am getting a new Dell laptop this week. I will use it for:

- software development on the web (php, RoR, evtl. python and java)

- desktop apps (Internet surfing, emails, music listening, youtube videos, documents, etc.)

- music production (possibility arose that I could teach courses on free media production)

This are of course very conflictive usages, which actually make it impossible to choose the "right" distro.

I am tending towards ubuntu because simply put most hardware just runs. But I'm inclined towards Ubuntu Studio which would give me a multimedia studio on which I can stack my development stuff.

Or would you see any reason for not installing ubuntu studio, when I will, at least in the beginning, mostly run apache and develop in PHP and/or Ruby On Rails?

Any other suggestion?

Thanks

mfillpot

The need for full hardware support may be unnecessary based upon what is included in your new purchase. If hardware restrictions are not present then I woul recommend going with a bit more of a manual distro like slackware, arch or gentoo so you can fine tune your installed applications and easily recompile them to your specific needs to expand your development potential.

Goineasy9

Just an FYI - I have a Dell Studio 17 and a Dell XPS13 laptop that I purchased within the last year. Both run Fedora flawlessly. Since Dell ships some laptops/desktops with Ubuntu installed, I don't think your going to find a single piece of hardware that won't be Linux compatible. IMO.

phonky

oh, this is very welcomed info, guys.