what is the best linux distro for a desktop and programming

[The spwan2]

hi im new to linux and was looking for adivice on wich distro to use

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Though I'm not a programmer, from what I gather it doesn't really matter which distro you choose .. they all have the same languages/IDE's/etc. .. though there may be differences in the "version" of packages available through the package manager.

So if it's going to come down to the best "desktop" distro .. that's very subjective, and you'll get lots of different opinions 

Are you new to Linux ?

What hardware are you planning on running Linux on ? .. is the hardware old and limited ?

[The spwan2]

yes im new to linux

im running a running an asrock h55 motherboard 8GB ddr3 ram  intel core i3 3.06 ghz

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Well that's going to happily run any distro you want .. as you're new to Linux, I'd suggest Ubuntu 12.04, or Linux Mint 13, for no other reason than you'll find more tutorials, help, online resources available for Ubuntu based distros.
(or Peppermint 3 if you want speed at the *slight* expense of ease of setup .. Peppermint is *my* current favorite)

All of those are based on Ubuntu .. kinda obvious in the case of Ubuntu itself .. so all have access to all the software in the Ubuntu software repositories

But you can test drive Linux before installing, by creating a LiveCD or LiveUSB (stick) .. these will give you a working desktop without making changes to your hard drive until you're ready to install. That way you can test drive a few distros and find the one that suits you best.

If you need further info about LiveCD/LiveUSB's or anything else .. just ask

[GEARHEAD_TI]

As a software developer I prefer to use Peppermint 3, it has useful tools such as software manager that contain specialised software for developers which work out the box. I would personally stay away from linux distributions such as Mandriva and anything to do with RedHat.

http://www.totalprograms.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/linuxdistrotimeline.jpg

This link contains a family tree of linux distos. Anything on the debian branch is very good for development. (Note Peppermint 3 comes under this branch).

Never the less, people will disagree with me and as Mark said it really is up to you

[The spwan2]

thanks

[SeZo]

I would personally stay away from linux distributions such as Mandriva and anything to do with RedHat.

Strange, I have used Mandriva for quite a while for development. Most of the development tool-sets I needed were pre installed.
On the other hand in all the distros I used since, the tools were just a few clicks in the package manager (apt-get install, or rpm -i, or pacman -S) anyway.