Best version to set up developers enviorment

Cloud9 · 01-23-2012, 04:19 AM

I have been requested to set up a developers enviorment on a linux server and I was wondering what would be the easiest version to work with but also deliever quality results.

I was going to go for fedora 16 but is it easy enough to use as I'm a complete linux noob... :P

acid_kewpie · 01-23-2012, 04:37 AM

what do you want to develop??

F16 is fine, ubuntu is fine, Mint is fine. just use one you like the look of, if there's nothing local to you that would be an influence on your choice, (maybe you already run RedHat EL servers, in which case, Fedora might be a better bet) then just pick one you fancy.

Satyaveer Arya · 01-23-2012, 04:59 AM

Choosing a distro based on its developing environment is like choosing a car based on its mechanism and all. All distros have them, they all work the same (and where they don't you can download something that does). Choose your distro based upon what you are most comfortable with and based on the interface/package manager/organization that you like best. The development tools will be there...

Satyaveer Arya · 01-23-2012, 05:03 AM

Ubuntu is simple to use, install drivers for you without troubles, compiz comes built in so you can have many desktops out of the box. Comes with Python.

Mint is even more easy to use. Comes with everything and then you can use the Mint software app to install things extremely simple. You can choose which app to install very quickly, Geany, Eclipse, etc. Turn off your brain and it works. Looks great out of the box too..

Fedora is really fast to boot and install applications is easy as well (althought not as easy as Mint)..

Cloud9 · 01-23-2012, 05:13 AM

There is a production server up and running and I have been asked to set up a developer enviorment server for it in linux. That server uses RedHat as far as I know. I haven't worked on linux before at all so I'm sort of learning as I go as well.

acid_kewpie · 01-23-2012, 05:18 AM

Well if this is a development ***SERVER***, then it should be the same as the live server. If you can't justify the license for RHEL, CentOS is an acceptable binary compatible alternative.

wpeckham · 01-23-2012, 01:26 PM

We should probably ask what you need to develop, in what language or environment, for what kind of target, by what kind of developer(s)?

It may not matter (see earlier comments) as the platform may matter less than the development libraries and applications. Often those are part of the GNU load that is pretty homogenious accrost modern distributions. In case yours in an exception, you may want to provide a bit more detail.

chrism01 · 01-23-2012, 11:45 PM

acid_kewpie's response is correct ( as always

).
You should install the same distro and version as currently in production, otherwise your Dev output will be invalid (although you may get lucky depending ...)

hydraMax · 01-23-2012, 11:59 PM

Gentoo is the best overall, because

1) It's source based, so all headers and dev stuff are installed by default for every program and library
2) You can pick and choose which components of each library you want compiled in (through USE flags)
3) Easier to get and use bleeding edge dev code
4) It is faster to get your code integrated into the distro (through an overlay, at the least)
5) you can easily create ebuilds which pull the latest code out of your repository and install it into your system

Having said that, you might ask yourself if there is a particular distro audience you want to target. For example, if you want to be really popular with the Ubuntu crowded, you might want to be doing development on a Ubuntu system, integrating into the current versions of their libraries and desktop environment tools, and testing .deb packages for usability on a typical Ubuntu desktop system.

acid_kewpie · 01-24-2012, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydraMax

Gentoo is the best overall, because

1) It's source based, so all headers and dev stuff are installed by default for every program and library
2) You can pick and choose which components of each library you want compiled in (through USE flags)
3) Easier to get and use bleeding edge dev code
4) It is faster to get your code integrated into the distro (through an overlay, at the least)
5) you can easily create ebuilds which pull the latest code out of your repository and install it into your system

Having said that, you might ask yourself if there is a particular distro audience you want to target. For example, if you want to be really popular with the Ubuntu crowded, you might want to be doing development on a Ubuntu system, integrating into the current versions of their libraries and desktop environment tools, and testing .deb packages for usability on a typical Ubuntu desktop system.

no no no, this is NOT a place to be having a popularity contest.

Cloud9 · 01-27-2012, 03:53 AM

Sorry I haven't gotten back in so long....On the production server is Ubuntu 11.10 but that is being changed to Debian. What are your opinions on the RedHat stack OS. Is this the same as RHEL?? This is the OS I have been asked to put on it. The IDE used will be Eclipse/Netbeans I believe. It will be developed in java as well. What has been developed and is being put on the production server is a website with game apps and streaming movies/able to read books/newspapers and it will have the ability to send applications to one another through the server possibly.

acid_kewpie · 01-27-2012, 04:14 AM

Redhat would be RHEL, yes. You've been asked to build a RHEL dev server to work towards a Debian production server? That's odd... Peoples view of what a "dev server" is can change hugely, but by default, I would strongly suggest you try to use the same as the production environment if possible.