Best Linux Distro For Node.js Developers: A Comparison!!

This article is for those of you who are Linux-users/Distro-hoppers/Backend developers/Full-Stack developers who are trying to find the perfect distro to do your Node.js programming in. Let’ go ahead and explore what choice we have and analyze their differences in an attempt to choose the best Linux Distro for Node.js Development activities.

Let’s start by look at the short version of the answer for those of you in a hurry to start your Node.js development activities!

The Short Version Of The Answer

Winner: Ubuntu and its derivatives

Runner up: Fedora

That is just the short version of the answer, let’s go ahead and look at the longer and more informative version and learn what were the factors considered, what other choices you have and see why Ubuntu is chosen as the best distro for Node.js programmers along with some valuable resources for getting started with your Node.js programming quests!

The Analysis

Linux has already captured a huge percentage of the server market and it is the most dominant player there. As Linux is getting more and more famous lots of distros are being developed to enhance the desktop support for Linux.

The setup programmers would need for coding will be radically different than the setup artists and video editors would need for content creation and editing! Hence some factors that are considered important for using Linux as a workstation depends upon the kind of work that you are planning to do with it.

But some factors are common across all types of work. These include

  • stability
  • performance
  • support &
  • security

If you plan to do all of your productive activities over on your next Linux distro then I suggest reading the article I wrote recently given in the link below where I have analyzed and compared several options in order to figure out what is the best distro for workstation purposes.

Best Linux Distro For Workstation: Analysis and Comparison!!

In this article, we will be focussing specifically on the needs of Node.js developers. Let’s see what those needs are in the next section.

The Needs of a Node.js Developer

Basic Needs

The basic needs of a Node.js programmer include the following.

  • npm package manager
  • good text editor for writing your Node.js code like Atom (built using node by GitHub) or VS Code (by Microsoft.)
  • a good IDE suitable for Node.js development like Eclipse or JetBeans IntelliJ
  • browsers to test your code on like Chrome, Firefox etc.
  • source code management tools like Git and DevOps tools like GitLab

The above needs can be fulfilled by all the Linux distros as Node.js is just a combination of Chrome’s JavaScript engine and some libraries and packages and Linux is a major operating system, as such Linux has all the capabilities needed inbuilt to run Node.js code! All you need to do is to ensure you have the necessary versions of node.js and the relevant libraries and packages you need in your distro. One distro is not going to be better than another in terms of how good it executes any given Node.js code as these distros are going to be using the same Linux OS underneath anyways.

Other Important Needs

Official Support for the Latest Node

But then we are interested in professional development, and hence we need the latest node.js version available as soon as it is released so that we can test out our code with these latest versions. Usually, the official repo’s of most recent distributions will be behind the latest node.js releases, but we can always download and install the latest versions straight from the Node.js.org website! Also, since the source code is available for you to compile it yourself, you can technically do node.js development on any operating system!

So, this is another need that is not a decision-making factor for us while choosing a distro! That leaves us with one last important need.

Official support for your favourite Node.js IDEs

Not all IDEs are tested extensively on all distributions of Linux before being released. Hence it is a good idea to choose a distro based on what actual distros are actually supported by the developers of your favorite IDE. Since the Linux distro world is huge, the developers of IDEs usually test only on the most popular distros.

The Distro Choices

That leaves us with 3 most popular distro families

  • The Debian Family: Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc
  • The RedHat Family: Fedora and CentOS
  • The Arch family: Arch, Manjaro, etc

Reason Ubuntu gets 1st place

Ubuntu is the distro all major IDE companies test their software against and officially support. If you are uncomfortable with their Unity desktop, you can go ahead with one of their other flavors like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc. You can read more about these flavors in my other article given below.

Linux Distros vs Desktop Environments: Differences Explained!

Debian is considered to be a distro for advanced users and hence it does not have a big user base. The same goes for other derivatives of Debian which does not have a large user base as Ubuntu. This leaves us with Ubuntu and flavors of Ubuntu as our best bet for IDE compatibility purposes!

Reason Fedora gets 2nd place

Fedora is from the RedHat family, it is used as a testing ground by RedHat to test their latest features before releasing them in their RHEL enterprise edition. Hence Fedora is the most popular distro in terms of support for the latest advancements in the field of Linux. It also has a big user base, only second to Ubuntu. Due to their big user base, this is another distro IDE developers test their software again.

If you are doing Node.js development, then your App is supposed to be run from a server or a cloud. Since most of the servers are running RHEL, it makes sense that you use Fedora do develop your app. As a bonus, you get to work with some experimental features months and sometimes even years before you get them in Debian based distros like Ubuntu!

What about Arch and Family?

Arch and its derivatives are all about catering to the needs of advanced users who can tinker their way through problems. Hence the IDE companies don’t invest much of their resources in testing their app in the Arch Ecosystem as the Arch users are proficient enough to solve any problems they might come across.

Conclusion

If you already in love with the distro you are using, then there is no reason in switching just for Node.js development. If you are a beginner to the Linux world then go with Ubuntu or one of its flavors or Linux mint. If you have been around the Linux field for a while and you want to switch from the Debian family of distros like Ubuntu or Mint, then try out Fedora or Cent OS from the RedHat family for your Node.js development. If you are an expert in Linux, then I suggest you try the Arch family and install your own optimized version for doing your Node.js development activities in.

And with that, I will conclude this article!

I hope you guys enjoyed this article and learned something useful.

If you liked the post, feel free to share this post with your friends and colleagues!

Related Articles

Here are some of my other articles that might interest you!

A Step By Step Plan To Learn Linux..!

Best Linux Distro For Workstation: Analysis and Comparison!!

A Complete Guide For Choosing A Distro For Your Computer’s Specs..!!

Best Distro For Software And Hardware Support: An Analysis.!!

Distro-Hopping, What, Why & How Explained!

Reasons Behind The Existence of SO MANY Linux Distros: An Analysis!

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Balaji Gunasekaran
Balaji Gunasekaran is a Senior Software Engineer with a Master of Science degree in Mechatronics and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He loves to write about tech and has written more than 300 articles. He has also published the book “Cracking the Embedded Software Engineering Interview”. You can follow him on LinkedIn