Hi everyone,

I would like to use ansys/fluent and also write CFD codes (still deciding on C or C++ or Fortran. Which Linux distro is the best? Or it doesn't matter?

Thanks in advance

Which Linux distro is the best

None

It entirely depends on the user (You)

Every Linux distro has the Linux Kernel and basic tools to manage the system, the rest is what every developer believes will be needed by his intended users, as you see it is subjective and not objective.

Allow me to tell you a bit of what I did. I have interest in using OpenFoam, so I installed OpenSUSE (The distribution used by the developers of OpenFoam) but then I found out that installing and maintaining new programmes on the system requires time (It is not like Windows, click or double click etc..) so I asked myself, what is important to me, Using OpenFoam or learning how to manage a Linux OS. In my case, the answer was clear, so I switched to CaeLinux which comes with all the programmes I need already installed.

I guess you have to decide on that by yourself, Good Luck.

Red Hat EL and Suse SLES are supported by Ansys Fluent.

And as Read Hat clones, there are Scientific linux and Centos... though I think for a personal pc some kind of ubuntu is best suited due to a lot of scientific up to date software.

I using fluent on the suse sled , also REHL workstaion works well.

With a bit of work, it is normally possible to make nearly any code run on nearly any Linux distro. If you would rather save this time, go out and buy the distro that your code has been certified for. Alternatively, just make sure you get the right libs installed, often it is easiest to just install everything, including 32-bit compatibility libs. I run a mixture of Fedora versions as well as Ubuntu, and I've managed to make everything work OK.

The different linux distribution normally have no influence because commercial CFD codes usually use only a few basic libraries and tools that come with all distributions. Research codes can be different depending on the enthusiasms of the researchers.

However, commercial software is usually only tested on the main distributions used by businesses. This means Redhat and SUSE Enterprise versions and increasingly Ubuntu. If you add in the fact that most large clusters use Redhat then this would appear to be a good choice all else being equal. If you do not want to pay for Redhat (which is more expensive than Windows) then both Centos and Scientific Linux are copies of RHEL without the commercial support.

Hi Fab,

I heard that Ubuntu is very small in memory, so if I install Ubuntu in my personal PC, will I get all the softwares (like gvim, Fortran & C compilers, etc..) along with OS ?

Thanks, Vinayender.

You may have to download and install the additional packages. My experience is that it is least trouble if you have the most complete installation, even if it means installing a few GB of unnecessary packages.