OT - Which Linux?

[Lars T. Kyllingstad]

Paul D. Anderson wrote:
> I'm going to add Linux to my PC to get a dual-boot configuration. (I'm tired of sloooow start ups and want to tap into the great tools available.) The tutorial I'm looking at suggests Ubuntu. Is there a significant difference in Linux implementations? Is Ubuntu one of the better ones? Does it make a difference for running D2?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your hellp.
> 
> Paul


I use and recommend Ubuntu.

There are many reasons to use Ubuntu: ease of use, large user base (i.e. 
easy to google for help with any problem), and many others. But for me, 
one reason overshadows them all:

Ubuntu has, without a doubt, the largest package repository of any Linux 
distribution (yes, bigger than Debian, even). Add to that the number of 
PPAs (Personal Package Archives) and other repositories that are 
available, and you'll never need to compile anything yourself again.

Whatever application I need, it's just a "sudo apt-get install foo" 
away. I haven't built a third-party app from source in years, and good 
riddance! Modern computers are fast enough that the performance boost 
gained by compiling applications yourself in my opinion just isn't worth 
the hassle.


Tip: If you have a 64-bit processor I would still recommend you install 
the 32-bit version of Ubuntu if you intend to use it mainly for coding. 
DMD is strictly a 32-bit compiler, and any library you want to use must 
also be 32-bit. Keeping a separate tree of 32-bit libraries in a 64-bit 
Ubuntu installation is possible (or should be, using the ia32-* 
packages), but I hear it's a pain.

-Lars