I'm diving into web development and programming to get a foot in the IT door. I've got an X1 Gen 6 with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. I'm looking for a Linux distro that's great for terminal use, preferably with minimal UI since I plan to work a lot with nvim or vim. Full keyboard navigation is important for me, and I enjoy tinkering with systems, which fits with my hobbies like jailbreaking and customizing devices. From my research, Fedora with GNOME seems to suit my needs, but I'd love to hear your recommendations.
5 Answers
Your interest in jailbreaking is actually a plus! If you enjoy tweaking things, check out Reddit's Unixporn for ideas on keyboard-driven tiling window managers. For a distro, you can't go wrong with Endeavour, Arch, or even Debian and Fedora. They’re all great, and each has its way of handling packages. If you want to go the extra mile in learning, NixOS could be worth trying later on once you're comfortable with the basics.
If you're all about keyboard shortcuts and minimal interfaces, you might want to check out Omarchy. It's really designed for that kind of use. I personally prefer a mix of keyboard and mouse, so I haven't switched, but Omarchy could be the perfect fit for you! Watch their introductory video, and you'll see if it clicks with you.
I had to chuckle at your title. I thought you were looking for wedding planning advice! But seriously, with your tinkering skills, you’ll find any choice works as long as you want to dive in and learn.
Honestly, for web development, almost any distro will do as long as you can run a browser for frontend testing. DistroWatch has a bunch of popular options to explore. Plus, setting up a development environment on Linux is generally easier than on Windows.
While Fedora is solid if you want a straightforward experience without too much fuss, if you’re eager to tinker and dive deep, I suggest giving NixOS a shot. It might take some time to adjust, but it's a playground for customization lovers.
Interesting point about Fedora. I’ll look into NixOS as well!
Thanks! I'll definitely check it out.