Linux for Uni student

Okay so my Uni only supports .deb and .rpm file systems, which kinda rules Arch Linux out, so which distro would you recommend, I need a kernel of 3.17+ for my laptop, as on 3.16- it has graphics issues where the system hangs.

I will be doing computer sciences also, so I need a good IDE that works well.

Docs will be handled with Google docs, this is so I can have more space locally.

any other things you think I need?

 

Thanks!

 

So.... pretty much any linux bistro that isn't Arch :P

 

Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Scientific

 

Personally I would use Fedora, but I'm partial because I work with CentOS servers all day.  Ubuntu is nice but I hate unity... 

@Xdroidie

If you use Arch just create a PKGBUILD and install from whatever source you have, no need to change to an inferior distro.

    ..."so I need a good IDE that works well"

CS students don't use IDE's as they are completely useless in professional programming. You will use Vim and the console like everyone else, unless you're an Emacs fan.

     ..."any other things you think I need?"

Mhmm, you'll probably need "mpv" for podcast streaming and no doubt you'll need "Xmind" or something similar for all the mind maps you'll need with PoC. Google Docs isn't ideal when you're writing ten-thousand word assignments. Use an open document, and just convert it when you need to, even though I'm sure your uni will support open-formats.

Your tutors will be linux gurus generally anyway, and probably sysadmins at your uni, so Just log into one of your uni forums and ask some questions.

Linux is great for everything.  until you need to use some garbage POS program from your BS school to do online classes.  then you are forced into either mac or windows.  im ranting...

"CS students don't use IDE's as they are completely useless in professional programming. You will use Vim and the console like everyone else, unless you're an Emacs fan."


Sounds like typical VIM supremacist BS... I, for one like and use VIM (even though I don't consider myself a "real programmer"), but this kind of thinking annoys me. Real programmer is the one, who spits out good code, not one who uses the least user-friendly environment or language... Saying VIM is the only way to go is like saying that Brainfuck is the only real language.



 

I personally recommend PinguyOS it is an Ubuntu fork. Essentially it's Ubuntu with pretty much everything you could ever need pre installed on it

I'd go for Debian (.deb) ^^

Rock stable and so on :D

Cant PKGBuild the program I need, there making us use a senseboard for the people who cannot program, and you need to use their version, not the public one, and its only available in RPM and DEB, which is annoying otherwise I would be on arch

I'm not sure you understand.

If you have access to the RPM, Deb, Tar, Git, a subversion address, or whatever the source is you have available, you can make your own PKGBUILD.

Well actually, to be fair in most programming environments we use Vi because of Unix compatibility. I didn't want to be discourage the kid, but Vim/Emacs is a step in the right direction.

Yeah, like I said I like vim, even though it can be pretty overwhelming, but I don't know anyone at my former, nor current university really using vim at all... Nowadays I use mostly Android Studio, which is quite hard to replace :D

I use butterflies, I open my hand and let their delicate wings flap once.

http://xkcd.com/378/

How is this done? just I need the senseboard program, and ideally I would use Arch

try UberStudent which is a Ubuntu-Centric distro for Students.