Good linux distro for development

From: -DG- (-DG-_at_nospam.com)
Date: 10/30/05 

Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 00:47:31 -0400

I've been a Windows programmer for a long while, currently using
C#/.NET. I'd like to set up a second partition to check out Linux
with Mono or DotGnu. Since I haven't run Linux, I'm looking for
advice on which distro would be suitable. Following are some of the
features that I think are important:

  Dual-boot -- I'm hoping that WinXP's boot loader can boot Linux
  Windows-like UI -- Needed for graphics development
  Emacs -- I guess this runs everywhere
  Devel tools -- Compat w Mono, DotGnu, C# compiler
  Read/Write NTFS -- all current drives are NTFS
  Lots of stable drivers -- Need support for scanners, sound cards
  Utilities -- drive imaging, etc.

Ideally I'd like to find a distro that is used a lot by programmers.
It may make it easier to chase down programming problems.

I won't be running this as a server--at least not yet. I have 1.5 GB
to 2 GB Ram on the machines that I'm considering.

I have lots of drive space, but I like to keep operating systems on
small partitions for backup. Currently running XP on a 30GB
partition. Any idea how much I should delegate for Linux?

I'm sure there are important things that I haven't thought about yet,
but that's a start.

Relevant Pages

  • Good linux distro for development
    ... I've been a Windows programmer for a long while, ... I'd like to set up a second partition to check out Linux ... with Mono or DotGnu. ...
    (alt.os.linux)
  • Re: as/400 http server
    ... Mono to this do I find a cool idea. ... > I would expect you should be able to put a Linux partition on your AS/400, ... > development platform based on the .NET framework that allows developers to ...
    (microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb)
  • Re: Windows multiboot (aaargh!)
    ... >> The Linux boot floppy is a bit more tricky. ... So I tried adding cfdisk to a spare Debian Woody boot ... > I reduced all the partition sizes by a third. ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: Linux, XP, Win2003 Server multi-boot
    ... Go to PC magazine's web site and do a search on "partitioning for linux" to see articles and reviews about partitioning philosophy and tools. ... Tools are now available in many bootable CD based Linux distributions to resize the C: partition of your disk drive to make room for Linux. ... I finally got the new machine - it came with one of those 'recovery' disks - and a 5 gig recovery partition that isn't supposed to be deleted. ... Once I feel I have everything in order - always lose something when I get a new computer - I'll format that disk and install Linux & Win2003 on it I guess. ...
    (alt.os.linux.redhat)
  • Re: Linux Windows dual boot not restoring properly
    ... Linux is showing the Windows folders in its file manager under the name of what effectively was drive C. ... decreases that Windows partition size in order to make a partition ... And at startup, can scan the hard drives, for partition types it ...
    (alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt)