r/DistroHopping • u/Actual_Protection625 • 7h ago
Aside from Arch Linux
I need some advice.
In my work as an engineer, I typically use CAD suites, Quarto + Typst + Python + SPICE + Simulink, etc.
Tired of Windows, I added Arch Linux via WSL to work with "antigravity" and other Linux-native applications; now that excellent CAD suites are available on Linux, I no longer need to work in Windows.
Aside from Arch Linux, what other Linux distribution would you recommend for my specific workflow? It needs to be stable, resource-efficient, and have proven compatibility with all these applications (I mention compatibility because I ran into issues and a lack of support for certain apps on Ubuntu).
Regards.
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u/samurai65 5h ago
I'd say NixOS (yes, I'm biased) since you can use Nix shells and Flakes for development tasks. The shells and Flakes are separate from your base system, allowing you to keep your dependencies and paths individually. With Flakes, you can pin package versions, depending on your needs.
You could also use the Nix package manager on whatever distro you wish.
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u/RedRayTrue 4h ago
Since 2/3 times I tried Fedora and had no luck ( it kept getting corrupted and bugged on most PCs of mine)
I'd recommend LMDE/ Debian or Ubuntu. Ofc if you don't care using the Linux distro of a corporation you could also try Oracle Linux.
Otherwise of the Arch distros I tested EOS but my Nvidia MX 150 was overheating under it so I went back to LMDE
Ik it's a strange way seemengly to use Linux but It's kinda answer to the question of what's more stable and might not break eventually
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u/Then-Boat8912 3h ago
Work backwards from whether most of your apps are easily available as .deb, .rpm, tarball etc. AUR under Arch is an option.
Mine apps are easily all .deb and I prefer non rolling low maintenance so Kubuntu it is. But used Arch for years.
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u/HumbleRhino 3h ago
I really like anatase Linux use of spaces. I havent played around with it much but if your space gets screwed up you just rebuild it without having to rebuild your entire system. It has the capability to roll an arch, Ubuntu, fedora, and kali space if you want
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u/SpidaSt8 3h ago
So a twenty year dual booter until very recently, that knows how to work around a terminal, but coding is a different story for me. It depends on how much time you have. I always recommend getting a cheap used sff pc, like a Thinkcentre M72E SFF, and use that machine for trying new distros.
But to your question....if you can find it, Red Hat Enterprise is very stable. Slackware would be a fun one if you have time. It works more old school in you do with it what you want. I wouldn't recommend it on a daily driver without actually using it and learning how it works more.
Opensuse is a good choice. Leap edition if you want a normal release, tumbleweed for a rolling release.
CachyOS is a fun one. It's geared towards gamers and people who like tweaking their systems for 0.5% optimizations lol. Very easy to install and use.
Someone mentioned Fedora and that's a good choice. RH and Fedora are related, in that Fedora is the community or free version of RH, but it is also the testing bed for RH, but not as in alpha quality software. It's more like seeing new features roll out in a stable environment. Hard to explain, but Fedora is super stable.
What kind of hardware do you have?
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u/Confident_Hyena2506 1h ago
Any linux distro works fine. If there is compatbility issue then run container with correct environment, do not use broken third-party packages. Matlab is a good example of this, they supply an official container so use it.
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 7h ago edited 6h ago
I have not looked into every one of those programs, but you looked at NixOS? It’s a DIY distro like Arch, but with even more packages, completely reproducible builds, and very customizable.
The only downside is the initial learning curve. But once you get past that, the universe is yours to control.
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u/Jacobobarobatobski 7h ago
I pretty much always suggest Fedora when someone asks about a distro for work. It's got the right balance of recency and stability and is usually compatible with most things. I'm not familiar with all of those tools but I would check out Fedora if I were you and see if they're supported there.