As the title says, I am currently learning to be a programmer, and my tablet does not suffice for the job.
I have already finished a small MEAN-Stack application for learning Typescript, learned some Java syntax (I expect nothing more exciting than a sorting algorithm, but exam language is Java, so…) and the next stop will most likely be plain vanilla C to learn about handling hardware.
Windows I hate with a passion, and I don’t know squat about Macs, so I am thinking of getting myself a decently sized laptop for a sensible Linux install.
History (I started my Liux journey with SuSE Linux 4.4.1, way back when) taught me to be very wary of driver issues on laptops, so I thought I could ask you for recommendations that play fair with Linux.
(as an aside, if I could play GuildWars2 on it in the evening and attach my two big monitors when at home, that would be super cool)
Anything by Lenovo usually works well with Linux. Make sure it’s doesn’t have Nvidia card but rather AMD graphics or intel graphics.
They are also typically the cheapest laptops. Try get Intel core i5 or Ryzen 5 CPU. That should be enough power to do anything you need.
As far as OS is concerned, I HIGHLY recommend Ubuntu desktop. It is by far the best Linux distro and especially good for programming as huge amounts of programmers use it as the desktop of choice.
Ubuntu also makes the most Software when it comes to cloud, servers, apps, IOT etc and they all work well together. Which is why Devs/programmers love Ubuntu so much.
Have you seen NixOS? I heard alot of devopers use nix and silver blue. Ubuntu is very common in the server space tho.
Yes I took a look but for my home system I found it too complex. I just want it to work with no issues and Ubuntu is normally like that.
I would say that’s all you want to stay away from at the beginning. 😁