Linux has been slowly gaining popularity over the past few years for both end users and developers. There are many reasons for that, such as the end of Windows 10, ease of use, flexibility, reliability, gaming and … development.

That’s right, Linux is an outstanding platform for development. Not only does it have all of the tools you need, but those tools are generally free, open sourc, and easy to install. On top of that, you have Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, virtual machines (VMs) and much more.

Generally speaking, it’s easy to list the best Linux distributions for end users, but when it comes to development, you can be certain that opinions will fly from every corner. Most often, those opinions center more around what distribution a particular developer uses and less around “this is the right tool for the job, regardless of what I use.”

I’ve whittled the list down to five different distributions. I’ll confess that my go-to distribution is on this list, but I can assure you that I would still recommend it, even if I hadn’t been using it for a decade.

Keep in mind that just about any Linux distribution can be turned into a development machine. Install the right toolchains, add your favorite language and IDE, mix in a container runtime engine and you’re off and running.

But I want to highlight the distributions that I believe are the best options on the market.

Are you ready?

Let’s go.

1. Debian

Debian is called the “mother of all distributions” for a reason. Debian serves as the base for Ubuntu, and a vast number of distributions are based on Ubuntu. Without Debian, there is no Ubuntu. As well, Debian is one of the most rock-solid operating systems available, and that’s no exaggeration. The reason for this is that Debian uses a conservative release cycle, well-vetted applications and fast/secure updates.

On top of the stability, you get a vast trove of software to install via the Debian repositories, a powerful and user-friendly package manager and multi-architecture support. Developers can also choose which branch they want to use, from stable, testing or bleeding edge. Debian is also fast and highly customizable, with different desktop environments to choose from. Debian also enjoys a very large user base, which means you can easily find support for whatever issue you are having.

Finally, Debian is very secure. One thing Debian does differently from the Ubuntu-based distributions is not enabling sudo privileges for standard accounts. If you need to do something that requires admin privileges, you’ll need to go old school and su to root. Of course, if you want, you can add your standard users to the sudo group for a more user-friendly experience.

2. Fedora

For many, Fedora is the obvious choice for development. One of the primary reasons for this is that Fedora is a platform focused on new technology and often adopts software earlier than other distributions. Fedora was one of the first distributions to change to Wayland, use Btrfs, and always enjoys the latest version of GNOME before any other distribution release. Because it ships with new versions of software, you can rest assured that your toolchain apps (such as GCC) and languages (like Python) will be the latest versions available. Because of this, you’ll have less software to install or upgrade out of the box. Nor will you have to add unofficial repositories to access the latest releases. Fedora also includes developer-centric tools such as compilers and IDEs, and there’s the toolbox command for creating reproducible development environments. There’s also the GNOME Boxes application that ships with Fedora. This app makes it very easy to spin up virtual environments without having to deal with the hassles of VirtualBox or other VM tools. Even though Fedora tends to be “bleeding edge,” it’s still very predictable, reliable and stable. Finally, Fedora has a very large community, so finding support won’t be even remotely challenging.

3. Pop!_OS

Yep, Pop!_OS is my distro of choice. And now that System76 has introduced the COSMIC desktop, it’s even better. The first thing you’ll notice about COSMIC is that it’s incredibly fast. The reason for this is that the desktop environment was written in Rust, which is a fast language. Aside from the speed, Pop!_OS was actually built specifically for creators. Another feature that helps lift Pop!_OS above many other distributions is the ability to enable or disable tiling window management on the fly. If you need a more efficient desktop environment, enable the tiling feature. If not, leave it off.

Another very important reason why Pop!_OS is on this list is that System76 offers ISO images for both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. By selecting the right ISO, you won’t have to worry about installing drivers for your GPU of choice. With the proper NVIDIA drivers installed, you’ll have a much easier time developing for machine learning (ML) and AI. Pop!_OS uses the APT package manager, so you’ll benefit from a wide assortment of software. On top of that, you get Flatpak for even more options. Finally, Pop!_OS offers full disk encryption out of the box, which means if your system or drive is stolen or lost, you won’t have to worry that it can be accessed.

4. openSUSE

First off, openSUSE comes in two different versions: Tumbleweed and Leap. Tumbleweed is a rolling release distribution, which means you’ll always have the latest and greatest software on board. The difference between openSUSE and other rolling release distributions is that the development team uses the openQA testing framework to ensure a heightened level of stability that you won’t find on other rolling releases. Or, if you prefer long-term support, you can go with the Leap release. You’ll also get some builder-specific tools such as Open Build Service (a powerful, web-based tool for simplifying the process of building and distributing software, YaST (a powerful and comprehensive admin tool that allows developers to install all the necessary -devel packages with a single click), and the Btrfs filesystem (which includes snapshot capabilities to make rolling back to a previous state easy). openSUSE is also very well suited for containerization via Docker, Podman and Kubernetes out of the box.

5. Linux Mint

If you were to ask any developer why they would choose Linux Mint, the answer is simple: Because it’s so easy to use. That user-friendliness equates to being able to get the OS up and running with zero problems and a user experience that is about as simple and reliable as it gets. Linux Mint also benefits from the Ubuntu base, so even installing all the necessary building components can be done with a single command: sudo apt-get install build-essential -y. This package installs a full collection of essential tools and libraries that are required for compiling and building software from source code. You’ll get C and C++ compilers, GNU Make, headers for standard C and C++ libraries, dpkg-devel and much more. Linux Mint also defaults to the Cinnamon desktop, which is immediately familiar, fast and stable. What more do you need in a developer environment?

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