I'm a second year computer science student and mostly work with C/C++ and Java for schoolwork. So far I've just been making use of Sublime and NetBeans on Windows, but I'm gearing up to put together a new desktop and feel like it would be a good opportunity to dig into Linux more. I've got experience with Fedora and Ubuntu, but mostly for web browsing or coding in emacs. I know that Fedora is generally better for desktop use than CentOS, but as I plan to use the new machine for productivity as I delve into my studies, I'm not so sure. So what is everyone's experience between these two as far as ease of setting up IDEs and compilers, managing servers and databases, etc?
Alternatively, if somebody else thinks a different distribution makes programming easier or better in some way, I'm open to suggestions. As I said, I've tried Ubuntu, but found I prefer Gnome 3 to Unity and my school was making use of Fedora so made the switch. My primary concerns are:
[listNum] 1) Developer support for popular IDEs and other software. NetBeans is my current preferred IDE, but that may change. My real concern is ease of installation. I can install things using apt or yum, but prepackaged executables are preferred.
2) Minimalist user interface. This is just a matter of personal preference, but I like the more advanced user controls to be hidden away a bit. I mentioned above that I've developed a preference for Gnome 3, but I also enjoy using Gnome 2, and I've grown up on Windows. Easy window management features like dragging to the edge to auto-resize are again preferred, but I'm not above manually resizing things.
3) Efficient resource use. Another issue I ran into with Ubuntu was performance on my netbook. The new desktop is to be based on a BioStar NM70I-847, with the possible addition of a Sapphire Radeon HD 5450, both of which I already own. The plan is to add 4GB of RAM and a nice big hard drive. My big concern in this regard is performance while running an IDE while also referencing things online. I also like to keep casual reading open (I like to take frequent, short breaks to catch up on sites like this one), and music playing in the background (YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, etc.) while I work. I know this is generally not an issue on modern computers, but given the CPU I'll be working with, I thought it worth mentioning. [/listNum]
Bonus points if somebody can help me get high res icons for NetBeans in Fedora (it doesn't affect usability but really looks ugly next to all of the others.)
Thanks for any feedback!
Alternatively, if somebody else thinks a different distribution makes programming easier or better in some way, I'm open to suggestions. As I said, I've tried Ubuntu, but found I prefer Gnome 3 to Unity and my school was making use of Fedora so made the switch. My primary concerns are:
[listNum] 1) Developer support for popular IDEs and other software. NetBeans is my current preferred IDE, but that may change. My real concern is ease of installation. I can install things using apt or yum, but prepackaged executables are preferred.
2) Minimalist user interface. This is just a matter of personal preference, but I like the more advanced user controls to be hidden away a bit. I mentioned above that I've developed a preference for Gnome 3, but I also enjoy using Gnome 2, and I've grown up on Windows. Easy window management features like dragging to the edge to auto-resize are again preferred, but I'm not above manually resizing things.
3) Efficient resource use. Another issue I ran into with Ubuntu was performance on my netbook. The new desktop is to be based on a BioStar NM70I-847, with the possible addition of a Sapphire Radeon HD 5450, both of which I already own. The plan is to add 4GB of RAM and a nice big hard drive. My big concern in this regard is performance while running an IDE while also referencing things online. I also like to keep casual reading open (I like to take frequent, short breaks to catch up on sites like this one), and music playing in the background (YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, etc.) while I work. I know this is generally not an issue on modern computers, but given the CPU I'll be working with, I thought it worth mentioning. [/listNum]
Bonus points if somebody can help me get high res icons for NetBeans in Fedora (it doesn't affect usability but really looks ugly next to all of the others.)
Thanks for any feedback!
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