Hi everyone
Basically I want to set-up a linux machine at home so I can do my programming here. Any recommended distros that are fairly easy to run and come with a good compiler for c++? Thanks.

pretty much all the major distros come with gnu c++ (g++)

I'd say Suse 9.1 Pro is about the easiest to install and run and has the latest of all libs for compiling. but the pro version isnt free to download.
BUT. dont get the personal edition of 9.1 as it has nothing. it can only compile RPMs made for it as they are setup to use the 'hidden' compiler (cpp(for c plus plus)).
Other than that, try the other recent distro's from Mandrake, Debian and the newer Fedora project (new distro since they stopped supporting redhat nine after compaq gave up on it).
Have a look at linuxiso.org
They have all the latest distro's and even some Unix based ones (FreeBSD, NetBSD etc.)
Its a great website and well worth a visit if you'd like to give a few distro's a whirl before settling on a comfortable one that has everything you need.

Hello,

I was a longtime supporter of RedHat... am still running 7.3 in places, and 9.0 in other places. I have not worked long with Fedora to comment, but what RedHat did disturbs me, and I am looking at other options.

So far SUSE has loaded fine on my box; I am also wanting to test FreeBSD. Am told that FreeBSD is a lot of compiling on the machine... not sure if I want to take my marbles and do that. SUSE has worked well though.

I do suggest you install *everything* from your distro, so that you have the various compilers, header files, and so forth. If you are going to do dev work, you don't want to have a limited environment (software, memory, hard drive). Don't cause a problem by selectively installing the meat and potatoes of the OS. (then again, if you don't need a news server, don't install it, but do install MySQL -- you might get an SQL project, and need it later!).

Christian

That's the evil Microsoft Windows approach. Bad, bad, bad.

Theres nothing wrong with windows you mook :p


Anyway I would suggest Gentoo if you want to really get your hands dirty with linux and you can read well.

Hello,

Why is it bad to install everything, and then disable what you don't need, and firewall it to be sure? If you have the space to do it, why not install it and then keep them all upgraded as time goes on?

If you don't, there is a risk of needing to install it later, and running into dependancy problems. I'll admit that I have been RedHat-ized, in that I have fought various dependancy hell wars, and won them after lots of grief. So other distros may have a better upgrade procedure; that is for me to discover and find out. RedHat does not.

Now, I would strongly agree that Microsoft has a broken installation methodology. Installs it all, and enables it all (although Win 2003 Server does come with things installed, but disabled, or not installed.... it is a step in the right direction). The Problem with M$ though is the multiple places to define a group policy, and the order that those policies are defined... one says yes, another says no, another says yes, and the forth says yes, but the one that says no "wins" due to some OS design found in Chapter 17 of "the Hidden Microsoft Mess". Linux does not have that armada of policy decisions... so you have a much better management of the daemons (services for you Windoze folks) and can control them.

As for me, I am going to go and study SUSE now. Granted, Fedora is out there, but I think I need to break from that distro. I am still angered by what RedHat decided to do, and well, don't want to do that again.

Christian

Ok, well you want an easy distro, lol. Theres a few i can name off the top of my head.. RH (red hat) or SuSe 9.1 Pro, lol. (you can get .ISO files off suprnova, or you can download them off the net at soem location (google my freind) but back to the point) Have you ever used linux?, I only use live distro's because well with such a small HD (hard drive), i really dont have the option to partiton. And no im not some loser with 1000's of mp3's. I just use my space wisely. If you have experience and know what aterm or a terminal is, then go for Slack, or SLAX the live version. But if all you doing is programming. Then stop right there. Please dont waste your time jsut for a C++ compiler you can get plenty for windows. Stop by bloodshed.net, and get Dev C++, or my good friends at borland they could hook you up. Even microsoft got a free compiler. My opinion is stick to live distro's and save programs to floopy's (walmart 50 pack for like 6 bucks) Much easier to use, and learn with. I also run a Wireless NIC, so pretty much networking withj nix is well not so easy with me, so im all set. (not lazy). Well i hope i helped you, if not post more, also a good place to look for things you might be interested in well would be http://www.freeprogrammingresources.com PcE, Sphyenx

Debian, absolutely. It was great back before my Debian drive died a tragiic death... :cry: It wasn't Debian's fault though, that drive always made noise and I was expecting it to die soon. Since it took 34 floppies to install, I just switched to Be.

Mike...this is a bit off topic...but since you're a fellow debian lover..

Have you tried MEPIS? I really dig it and they are currently working on ProMEPIS which is geared more toward programmers and advanced users. If you haven't given it a go...check it out. I really dig the fact that I can use anything on MEPIS and Debian because they use the same repositories...I broke an Ubuntu box trying to install something from the testing branch but have been running MEPIS for almost 2 years now without a single breakage...I've installed stuff from all three branches without a glitch...or minimal ones at best. Anyways, I thought it might be an option for you to consider as well as the original author of this thread.