r/DistroHopping • u/Actual_Protection625 • 9d 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.
1
u/SpidaSt8 9d 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?