I run Ubuntu and Fedora as my development platforms. But Solaris latest release, with
all the features that it advertises, may be a preferred developer platform. At least worth taking a look.
Sun Microsystems releases Solaris Express Developer Edition 1/08, its free OpenSolaris-based distribution targeted at developers running on x86 systems. Major highlights of this release include: NetBeans 6.0 Integrated web stack (Apache, MySQL, Ruby, Php, PostgreSQL)with start/stop service controller for MySQL and Apache. You can bring up a test MySQL/Apache environment in a matter of minutes--a huge improvement over any previous Solaris release. Interoperability with Microsoft's CIFS protocol Support for virtual machines via Sun xVM hypervisor, based on technology from the Xen community Sun HPC ClusterTools based on the Open MPI effort also included As always, NetBeans, Sun Studio tools, and other developer tools are automatically installed during OS installation. Solaris Express Developer Edition (SXDE) is a release of leading edge Solaris technology, with a modern GNOME desktop environment and improved laptop support. It is a more thoroughly tested release than the every-two-week Solaris Express Community Edition, and includes NetBeans, Sun Studio, and other developer tools. Solaris Express Developer Edition