I have been hopping around a lot when it comes to linux. I have been sitting on Mint for a while now, and i'm wondering if there is a better linux distro out there? I've tried the big common ones, but I like having options. I have about a dozen VMs for different ones and nothing seems to work as well as mint. This is for a laptop that i will be mostly using to troll the net while i watch tv and occasionally code with.
There is no "best". There is only "best for your needs". I'd recommend changing the title, lest people take it wrong and derail the thread.<p>If by "works" you mean "has a familiar and mostly-polished interface", then I would agree. If you like Mint so far, go with that. To give a comparison on the "other end" of the user experience spectrum, try Crunchbang. It is the same underlying ecosystem as Mint (Debian), but builds itself out of a handful of more minimal components. It's my go-to dev distro because it's just enough to get work done in, and nothing more.<p>If you've tried "the big common ones", then you've hit 90% of the mainstream options. If you need something special, unique or custom beyond those, you definitely would have identified those needs in your post.
I've been using Ubuntu for almost ten years now. What got me here:<p>- Package management: DEBs were sooo much easier to deal with than RPMs.<p>- Hardware support - usually everything just seemed to work or there was a forum discussion with a solution on what to do about it.<p>- Good variety of included packages.<p>- Excellent support forums, even if you are doing non base Ubuntu stuff there's probably a discussion a 'google' away that covers whatever issue you have.
So, even tough Canonical does not-so-pleasant things to the UX, you can easily find ways to fix your experience and back to developing.<p>If you have similar positive experiences with Mint, why switch? Figure out what you are missing or looking for first.
It's really just up to what your personal preferences are, mostly related to packaging and setup.<p>I've been using ArchLinux for a while, but have been slowly moving to stock debian.
I prefer Debian based OS, e.g Ubuntu, Mint, et al.<p>Then all the windows managers are a mere apt-get install ... away.<p>The only thing that irks me is the driver support for laptop peripherals. Still can't get MBP to run as cool and for as long on battery with Linux as with OS X. I've given up on VmWare as it seems to churn the CPU even doing very little.
I use Linux exclusively on my desktop and have had a bunch of laptops over the years with Linux installed (mainly Debian based). It's never been quite pleasant though. I work primarily off my desktop so I wouldn't mind it that much but it was never good enough for me to be happy when roaming.<p>I recently got a Macbook Air (the new 2013 one) and it's working out pretty well. Rather than deal with a desktop Linux OS I've got everything running in VMs and either work through them or cloud based remote servers.<p>For casual computer use (web browsing, email, etc) I use native apps. For software dev I use a combination of SSH to VMs/remote servers and native text editors accessing shared filesystems (mainly sshfs).<p>I still much prefer my desktop (a real keyboard is always <i>way</i> better) but at this point my laptop is tolerable enough that I can roam around and actually get work done.
There is no best, there is a specific distro you will like using and find a better fit for your needs.<p>Take this example, some years ago I tried Debian, SuSe, Mandrake, and a few others, ended up using Gentoo and it is still my distro of choice, I won't say it's the best for everyone, but so far has been the best for my needs.
Since you're on Mint you're in the apt-* world. One of the Mint variants is probably best for a combination of minimal configuration and latest-ish packages in the repository. Debian itself (the final stop upstream from Mint) would be good if you want to be involved with your own system's configuration for whatever reason; its packages will be somewhat more out of date, possibly more stable.<p>If you're selling into an enterprise that requires RedHat, Oracle etc, then possibly CentOs for cheaper development costs as compared to developing on RedHat itself. Those are in the RPM world.<p>So many other ways to slice this pie, depending on what you need and how involved you want to be with your disto as opposed to whatever it is you're doing.
IMO the "best" is the one that requires the least amount of futzing from you to get your job/work done.<p>You don't want to waste time setting up X.. resolving dependencies.. making things 'work' that should 'just work'.<p>So, whatever solves that?<p>Personally, I've gone for the latest available release of Ubuntu where possible, although recently i've started using OS X and shelling into a linux machine to do any necessary work that requires it. I find OS X provides a decent *nix underneath and with the addition of <a href="http://brew.sh/" rel="nofollow">http://brew.sh/</a> - makes it a viable choice for me over a Linux set up.
I'm more of hobbyist developer, although I could probably switch to professional but I'd have to pick PHP... and I'm not so crazy about that.<p>Anyway at work I run Ubuntu 12.04. Mostly because I find it to be a little more forgiving than Debian out of the box.<p>At home a run Debian Sid. I ran Wheezey for almost a year and when it was released as stable I switched to Sid. My only real issue is the lack of the full Firefox.. Right now I'm pretty sure I have the one installed from a mint repo. Ice Weasel just isn't the same. For example when using outlook it would set my spell check to Bolivia Spanish. Despite the default being English.
When it comes to compatibility you should think of a debian kernel based distro. Ubuntu, Mint(What I am currently using), or Debian(Stable, Testing, Unstable etc etc). If its your first time using Linux I would stick with something that is familiar to a Windows user, Mint.
I started off with Ubuntu but moved onto Mint. I love Mint 14 and I don't feel the need to use anything else. For some of my clients working in the Microsoft environment, I use windows in a VM with a shared folder. Works great.
My suggestion is crunchbang ;) try and you will understand ;)
<a href="http://www.crunchbang.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.crunchbang.org/</a>
I've greatly enjoyed #! (Crunchbang):<p><a href="http://www.crunchbang.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.crunchbang.org/</a><p>It's Debian based with minimal extra bullshit, has a super-friendly config script right out of the box on first boot, and uses OpenBox as the WM. Very snappy and minimalist distro.
The best for what? If you want something easy and like Windows 7 UI-wise, then try Zorin OS.<p><a href="http://zorin-os.com/" rel="nofollow">http://zorin-os.com/</a>