Linux for programming

Debian. I would say hands down, but some people would point out that slackware would work on that system as well.

Be sure not to download any of the CDs, however. Get the netinstall disk. And make sure you upgrade (or install) the testing distribution, not stable.

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Original post by C-Junkie Debian. I would say hands down, but some people would point out that slackware would work on that system as well. Be sure not to download any of the CDs, however. Get the netinstall disk. And make sure you upgrade (or install) the testing distribution, not stable.

Am I on the right page here? or should I be here: http://www.debian.org/distrib/floppyinst

Yep. That'll even install the testing distribution for you. Excellent.

Go with one of those.

Well, if you want a run of the mill distro, use either debian or slackware, but if you want excitement and drama, use Gentoo!

For those who love to wait, or tediously type for hours on end, Gentoo is the way to go.

Seriously though, if you would also like to learn a lot about Linux as well, Gentoo will probably teach you the most, and will teach it to you fairly quickly. It's tough to install, but if you go to http://www.gentoo.org/ and check out the documentation, you'll see how much hand holding they do along the way. Just plan to spend several hours just doing the basic install. The big advantage for your hardware though, is that everything is compiled specifically for it, and only including the libraries that you want to include.

So, if you're a lazy slacker, try something else, but if you want to learn, install Gentoo.

Cheers

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Original post by ryanmfw For those who love to wait, or tediously type for hours on end, Gentoo is the way to go.

Or a ricer. That's about it.

Awesome! Thanks!

On such an old machine, Vector Linux is probably the most usable. It is Slackware-based (so packages aren't perfect) but it is tuned for low-spec machines like your P166.

One note: If you like GUI applications, double that RAM. I'd be surprised if XFree86 would even start without going into swap.

Linux rules. Good luck!

Gentoo is the answer to *all* your problems. :-)

And if you want customization beyond your wildest dreams, try LFS . Basicly build your own distro. And if you stick to instructions it's really piece of cake (though that custom part suffers then a bit ;) ). It's GREAT for learning the insides of GNU/Linux environment.

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Original post by Winograd And if you want customization beyond your wildest dreams, try LFS . Basicly build your own distro. And if you stick to instructions it's really piece of cake (though that custom part suffers then a bit ;) ). It's GREAT for learning the insides of GNU/Linux environment.

I'll have to take a look at that - sounds fun! Thanks for the suggestion.

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Original post by andrewk3652 Gentoo is the answer to *all* your problems. :-)

Gentoo is the answer? Dear god, what was the question?!

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Original post by Doc Quote: Original post by andrewk3652 Gentoo is the answer to *all* your problems. :-) Gentoo is the answer? Dear god, what was the question?!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the shittiest of them all?

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Original post by C-Junkie Quote: Original post by Doc Quote: Original post by andrewk3652 Gentoo is the answer to *all* your problems. :-) Gentoo is the answer? Dear god, what was the question?! Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the shittiest of them all?

My, my, why such hostility towards Gentoo?

I've used the obligatory "beginner" distros, like SuSE. I've tried Red Hat and Slackware, too. I have to say my favorite distro has been Gentoo (which I currently use). Just curious why you dislike it so.

(Edited for grammar fixes.)

[Edited by - MikeMJH on December 18, 2004 1:48:31 AM]

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Original post by MikeMJH My, my, why such hostility towards Gentoo.

It's a reaction to the snobbery and misguided notion that building everything from scratch is a productive use of time and/or computing resources, or that it provides a performance boost because it's "customized". All it does it delay the onset of productivity.

An operating system exists to get out of the way.

^^ What he said.
I was only jesting.

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Original post by Doc ^^ What he said. I was only jesting.

Right, I got that ;-). Only C-Junkie was a little harsher with his wording, like he has some kind of vendetta against Gentoo [wink].

I'd recommend Ubuntu. It's Debian but better.

I actually do get a performance boost of almost 5-10% speed in using compiled gentoo over stock redhat (as compared by the various games and such I have - if nothing else, glxgears runs faster, and damnit that's all that matters! :-) )

However for most people it's really not necessary. I just prefer it. (That, and if I watch something build, I tend to trust it more. I love gentoo because with every other source build there's always the possibility of having a build break on you - I've *never* had that with Gentoo.)

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Original post by Oluseyi Quote: Original post by MikeMJH My, my, why such hostility towards Gentoo. It's a reaction to the snobbery and misguided notion that building everything from scratch is a productive use of time and/or computing resources, or that it provides a performance boost because it's "customized". All it does it delay the onset of productivity. An operating system exists to get out of the way.

Well, you can get gentoo in precompiled, binary flavors. I prefer Gentoo for other reasons (such as, it's a lot like a LFS system where you set up the packages, except the packaging and bootstrapping parts are fully automated :) It takes me about 30 min. to set up a gentoo box installing, leave it for a few hours for binary packages or overnight/a day for source install, then another 15 min to finish the install.

EDIT: Plus portage rox compared to apt or yum