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  From: Alan Kennington <ak.linuxsa@topology.org>
  To  : LinuxSA <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 00:30:19 +1030

which linux distribution for serious development?

My apologies in advance for asking one of the most-asked questions
about linux. But here goes...
(If you don't like long posts, please skip this one now!)

Can anyone tell me which is the best linux distribution for serious
(full-time, paid) development work (including kernel development)?

Here's some background to my question.

-	I've been using SuSE from version 6.2 to 8.1.
	This must be roughly 3-4 years or so.
	Before that I used Redhat (up to 5.2) and ye olde Slackware
	(in ancient times).
	Suse _was_ good once for serious development.

-	As I've installed various SuSE linux distributions, they've
	become progressively more idiot-friendly - and developer-hostile.
	Now I find that SuSE 8.1 professional is almost useless.
	Here are some of my grudges (after a couple of weeks of use):
	-	The YaST install/configure tool doesn't let me 
		install "all packages" anymore.
	-	YaST doesn't allow me to see the list of all
		source modules anymore. (And this is the last straw -
		I couldn't find the pppd source or any other source package
		using the X or non-X versions of YaST.)
	-	The SaX X-windows config tool refuses to make any changes
		to make my faulty graphics set-up work. Since the config
		is faulty, it refuses to do anything. So I'm stuck with
		xf86config etc.
	-	The memory management (or something related) is so bad that 
		every time I change something trivial with YaST (like
		some DNS parameter), it takes a huge time
		with lots of paging to run all its config scripts.
		And under normal usage conditions, it kills the
		KDE panel because of memory overflow (with 128 MB RAM
		and 130 MB swap, which was perfect for SuSE 6.2). 
		So then I have to restart KDE to get that panel
		back, but the kdm doesn't start up because of some subtle
		fault in the XF86Config file. So I have to re-boot, and
		then magically kdm starts with the right params and
		everything is okay. But I didn't like re-booting
		every 24 hours. So I only use that machine over the net
		with ssh now!
	-	The number of options in the installation script
		seems to be about quarter of what they were in 6.2.
		I assume this is to help the newbies, while
		abandoning the serious users. The file system
		set-up is particularly bad, and very poorly documented.
	-	I can't work out how to change most of the options which
		I chose at installation time. The new YaST doesn't
		seem to be able to change many things after installation. 
	I've just quoted a few of my grudges to give you soem idea
	of why after many years of using SuSE as the "power user's linux",
	I've found that I have to give up and learn a different distribution.

-	What I'm looking for in a distribution is:
	-	Ability to choose all packages (by group and individually) at
		installation time and at any time thereafter.
		(SuSE used to be very good at this.)
	-	It must have all the most up-to-date useful stuff.
		I'm not worried about whether all packages meet some
		semi-religious ideology of open source purity.
		I just want to get everything that's going free for linux.
		Especially I want the latest versions of everything so as
		to minimise vulnerability to recently discovered hacks.
	-	I don't want a linux kernel which is so souped-up by
		the distributor that it makes installation of
		the latest 2.4.x or 2.5.x kernel difficult.
	-	I want to be able to do most config things on the
		command line or with a non-X GUI. 
		And if I want to override the GUI config
		tool's version of a config file, I want it it to let me
		modify what I want.
	-	If I want to download the latest version of lots of
		software like OpenSSH, OpenOffice, mutt, gpg, etc.
		and build it from source, there should be no complaints
		from all the other software on the distribution.
	-	But most of all, I should feel like I'm in control of
		the software - not a prisoner of the distribution.
		I don't care if I can install the whole thing with
		three mouse clicks in 20 minutes. When I want to
		change something, I shouldn't have to sacrifice a chicken
		and read aloud the entire Mahabharata just to toggle
		some basic parameter.

-	I don't need lists of links to distributions. I've already
	made my own big list:
	http://www.topology.org/soft/linux.html

-	Originally I abandoned RedHat because of my dislike of
	monoculture - most people in Adelaide use RedHat,
	and most books on linux assume that linux = RedHat.
	However, if RedHat is now the optimum developer's linux,
	I'll use it.

It seems to me that some distros have gone down the idiot-friendly path,
and some have gone down the "pure path of open source enlightenment".
I just want to be able to do lots of development.

I gather that these distros are pulling out all stops to attract
the beginners' vote:
-	Mandrake
-	RedHat 
-	SuSE
-	Lindows?
-	Sorcerer?

And these are more of the purer sort:
-	Debian
-	Slackware?

My guess is that the best for me might be Debian or RedHat, but I'm worried
about the religious fervour of Debian, their erroneous use of the
term gnu/linux, and their refusal to include some software.
The RedHat 8.0 professional is now US$150.
Sounds a bit steep to me. SuSE 8.1 professional is AU$160 or so.

I'd appreciate any serious hints from serious developers.

Cheers,
Alan Kennington.

-- 
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