Here are some best stable Linux distros to install Android Studio for coding and developing applications in an open source and secure environment.
Among the popular operating systems, Linux has always been the first choice of many programmers and developers because they don’t have to pay for it. Moreover being an open source licensed software it is easy for programmers to customize Linux as per their needs. Furthermore, Linux also supports a wide range of programming languages, including C, C++, Perl, Ruby, PHP, and more.
Even Linux is now a backbone of the internet, cloud hosting, Android, smartphones, routers, and other many devices. Hence, system administrators and developers need to learn how to operate a Linux system. There was a time when it was only a cup of tea for coders, but now even common desktop users can learn and operate Linux easily because of attractive and intuitive graphical desktop environments.
This guide focuses on some of the best Linux distributions for developers and programmers and highlights the key features that make them ideal for programming/development purposes.
Best Linux Distros for Android Studio Development
Here we have listed some top Linux distros based on tools, documentation, community support, popularity, and ease of usage they are offering. You can easily install Android Studio on these Linux operating systems.
1. Mx Linux
“Best mid-weight Linux distro for developers”
This might not sound digestible who haven’t used MX Linux yet, but you should once. It is a snappy and light mid-weight Linux based on the Debian stable branch with a background of AntiX and Mepis. The default edition offers an XFCE desktop environment with other options as well such as KDE Plasma and Fluxbox.
It offers a good collection of open source tools to handle the daily computing needs including tools to manage Boot Options and Repository Management.
Due to a Debian-based distro, MX Linux offers long-term update support to developers with extreme stability and access to thousands of packages available through the Debian repository. In addition to this MX Linux also offers its own test Repo and Flatpaks to get popular applications not accessible using the Debian repo.
MX Linux distro is not one of the best to use for developers only, even regular basic Desktop users can go for it due to an extensive collection of wallpapers, themes, Conkies, and icon sets for customization.
2. Ubuntu Linux
“Best documented & easy to use Linux for developers”
Well, we didn’t want to include Ubuntu because it is the first Linux that comes to the mind of users (desktops and developers) to use. The reason behind this is the long-term support, availability of thousands of tutorials, stability, and fewer learning curves.
Even the official documentation website of the Android Studio project uses Ubuntu Linux to showcase how to install it. Therefore, starting with the Android studio is easy in it even on the most recent version of Ubuntu such as 22.04.
There is also another benefit of using the most popular Linux OS i.e you can find most of the development tools and libraries to install directly using the APT package manager and the official repository of Ubuntu.
If the system repo lacks some tools that you want to use then developers can go for extra package repo called Personal Package Archive (PPA). Moreover, SNAP, a universal package manager is also there to use. Learn: 2 Ways to Install Android Studio on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
To help developers and programmers in installing some popular IDEs such as NetBeans, Pycharm, Vscodium, and other development tools even Android Studio alongside all of the required dependencies, the system offers a command line tool called Ubuntu Make. However, it is not available to install using the default system repository. The user has to either use SNAP or PPA repo. Here are the commands for that.
snap install ubuntu-make
or
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lyzardking/ubuntu-make
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ubuntu-make
Install Android studio:
umake android
3. Manjaro
“Best Arch-based Linux distro for Android Studio”
Arch Linux is more popular among the professional Linux community and the ones who want full control over their operating system. However, if you want to start from scratch then learning curves will be there. Nevertheless, the programmers and developers can easily use Arch Linux to create their custom operating system.
Well, those who don’t want to bang their head against the complicated installation of Arch Linx and go through its learning curves can rely on an Arch-based system called Manjaro that is easy to install and operate.
Manjaro Arch saves the time of developers who directly want to focus on their programming project out of the box; if you love the rolling Linux distributions and a repository that is always up to date.
It has a simple GUI installer, just like Ubuntu or Linux Mint, which also simplifies the update methods. Since it combines all the strengths of Arch Linux, it is best suited for beginners looking for an Arch alternative. Manjaro comes in three editions with GNOME, KDE, and Xfce each.
With a powerful package manager of Manjaro, users can install various development software using GUI such as Netbeans, Pycharm, Android Studio, KDevelop… To expand the access to a variety of packages users can access AUR, Flatpak, and Snap repositories as well, however, don’t forget to enable them.
4. Fedora Linux for Android Studio
“Best RHEL-based Linux with the latest software for developers”
The developers of the paid Linux Red Hat also have a free Linux version on offer: Fedora. It is community-based and quickly adopts technical innovations. Tested and proven functions are then transferred to Linux Red Hat, which is offered to companies.
“Fedora Workstation” is aimed at the private user and scores with particularly good security functions. The software and functions are usually up-to-date, therefore those developers who want to try out bleeding-edge software can go for Fedora. Compared to Redhat and CentOS Stream, the repository offers a wide range of software.
Apart from the Workstation editions, others are Server, IoT, CoreOS, and Silverblue. Fedora has extensive libraries, and tutorials and offers a 2-year life cycle support that offers better support for tools and applications. Fedora is always on the rollout for the latest open-source features, driver updates, and software.
These are not the only Linux distros for installing Android Studio, however, if you are new to developing or even an experienced programmer, it is a good idea to go for some popular Linux because of good support, stability, large community, online tutorials, and wide range of packages & libraries to install directly using their official repositories.
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