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If you're looking for a fantastic dev-focused linux distro, I can't say enough good things about Bluefin Linux https://projectbluefin.io/ https://projectbluefi

If you're looking for a fantastic dev-focused linux distro, I can't say enough good things about Bluefin Linux https://projectbluefin.io/ https://projectbluefin.io/

fcarraldo 1y ago
I've also been very happy with Silverblue (an alternate flavor of Universal Blue, the same guts as Bluefin). It took a bit of an adjustment period to get used to using an immutable distro, but given that I run this as the sole OS on my daily driver, reliability is paramount. It gives the same feeling of running a highly stable OS like MacOS, but with the power, ergonomics and customizability of Linux - and anything I need that isn't easy to fit into the immutable model is just a simple Distrobox invocation away. It's "Container-driven development" done right - containerized applications and shells _feel_ native via Distrobox (which gives them access to the host FS, network, hardware, etc by default) but without the risks of native development causing dependency conflicts. And if I screw something up, I can just spin up a new container.
- abhinavk 1y ago
  Silverblue is a Fedora project. The Universal Blue and its flavors (Bluefin, Bazzite, Aurora) are based on its image. They are basically community maintained versions of silverblue because Fedora is very cautious (and stubborn) in including QoL things. [1]: https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/silverblue/ https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/silverblue/
  - fcarraldo 1y ago
    That’s a more accurate way of putting it, thanks!
fouc 1y ago
Cool idea, but supporting homebrew is a big yikes! I hope no serious developers on linux ever use homebrew, it's the worst package manager by far. Most package managers support versioning and keeping old versions of installs around, but not homebrew. That's why I'm boycotting it at this point, got burnt by it too many times. I'd rather use pacman or apt-get or pkgsrc or nix or any other package manager than homebrew.
- rufugee 1y ago
  I share your concerns about homebrew. It was one of the reasons I gave up on Silverblue/Bluefin.
- jcastro 1y ago
  Bluefin contributor here, why are you using homebrew that way? For development use a container.
  - crowcroft 1y ago
    A lot of people don't use containers/don't want to use containers. I guess Bluefin might just not be for them though.
    - mtndew4brkfst 1y ago
      This is my impression - if you explicitly don't want to use toolbox or devcontainers I don't think you're on Bluefin's happy path at all, and the maintainers don't seem concerned enough by that to improve other experiences.
    - jcastro 1y ago
      Right, Bluefin is for container development.
  - lemonberry 1y ago
    Pardon my ignorance, but how else or what else would you use Homebrew?
  - lawlessone 1y ago
    Just since you are here, is it any good for Game dev with things like godot?
    - jcastro 1y ago
      No but Bazzite DX is almost done so we can start working on Bazzite GDX soon, which is going to be our game dev image. Though hopefully as more things become flatpak native ideally someday the idea of specialized images won't be so necessary.

If you're looking for a fantastic dev-focused linux distro, I can't say enough good things about Bluefin Linux https://projectbluefin.io/ https://projectbluefin.io/

fcarraldo 1y ago

I've also been very happy with Silverblue (an alternate flavor of Universal Blue, the same guts as Bluefin). It took a bit of an adjustment period to get used to using an immutable distro, but given that I run this as the sole OS on my daily driver, reliability is paramount. It gives the same feeling of running a highly stable OS like MacOS, but with the power, ergonomics and customizability of Linux - and anything I need that isn't easy to fit into the immutable model is just a simple Distrobox invocation away. It's "Container-driven development" done right - containerized applications and shells _feel_ native via Distrobox (which gives them access to the host FS, network, hardware, etc by default) but without the risks of native development causing dependency conflicts. And if I screw something up, I can just spin up a new container.

abhinavk 1y ago
Silverblue is a Fedora project. The Universal Blue and its flavors (Bluefin, Bazzite, Aurora) are based on its image. They are basically community maintained versions of silverblue because Fedora is very cautious (and stubborn) in including QoL things. [1]: https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/silverblue/ https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/silverblue/
- fcarraldo 1y ago
  That’s a more accurate way of putting it, thanks!

fouc 1y ago

Cool idea, but supporting homebrew is a big yikes! I hope no serious developers on linux ever use homebrew, it's the worst package manager by far. Most package managers support versioning and keeping old versions of installs around, but not homebrew. That's why I'm boycotting it at this point, got burnt by it too many times. I'd rather use pacman or apt-get or pkgsrc or nix or any other package manager than homebrew.

rufugee 1y ago
I share your concerns about homebrew. It was one of the reasons I gave up on Silverblue/Bluefin.
jcastro 1y ago
Bluefin contributor here, why are you using homebrew that way? For development use a container.
- crowcroft 1y ago
  A lot of people don't use containers/don't want to use containers. I guess Bluefin might just not be for them though.
  - mtndew4brkfst 1y ago
    This is my impression - if you explicitly don't want to use toolbox or devcontainers I don't think you're on Bluefin's happy path at all, and the maintainers don't seem concerned enough by that to improve other experiences.
  - jcastro 1y ago
    Right, Bluefin is for container development.
- lemonberry 1y ago
  Pardon my ignorance, but how else or what else would you use Homebrew?
- lawlessone 1y ago
  Just since you are here, is it any good for Game dev with things like godot?
  - jcastro 1y ago
    No but Bazzite DX is almost done so we can start working on Bazzite GDX soon, which is going to be our game dev image. Though hopefully as more things become flatpak native ideally someday the idea of specialized images won't be so necessary.