Operating Systems

Quote

Without an operating system, the computer is an expensive piece of electronics.

Guides to install and configure operating systems to support software development, graphic design and video editing.

Linux Distributions

A Linux distribution is an assembly of software packaged to work together seemlessly (or atleast avoid conflicts).

There are a wide range of Linux distributions to choose from, although Practicalli recommends Ubuntu or Debian Linux distributions.

Arch Linux has solid community support should a more involved operating system experience be desirable.

Regolith Desktop Debian Linux Ubuntu Desktop

Practicalli recommends Linux

Practicalli recommends use of a Linux distribution to provide a stable and developer focused environment to work in. The vast majority is freely available without cost and typically of high quality thanks to so many collaborators and users.

Linux also has a quite minimal hardware resource use and has very widespread support for new and classic hardware.

Unix/BSD based systems can also offer a good developer experience, e.g. MacOSX.

MacOS

MacOS is a BSD based operating system so has similar command line experience. Coupled with Homebrew, a wide selection of developer focused packages are freely available.

MacOS is often used by commercial companies (especially FinTech) as commercial software is used to administrate the operting system, usually by a remote System Adminstration team.

Command Line Shell

• bash
• zsh
• fish
• Kitty Terminal

Linux Desktop

• i3 tiling window manager
• Hyprland Wayland compositor and nwg-shell desktop for wayland and sway

Software development tools

• Clojure CLI
• node.js and npm
• Python

Creative tools

• Inkscape 2D vector graphics (SVG)
• Blender 3D modelling, animation and video editing
• Audacity sound editing
• FFMpeg audio-video command line tools
• Opus audio codec