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This is my first question and I didn't see a similar question asked. Sorry if I didn't search hard enough.

To the point. I'm learning the Python programming language and I've read Linux plays very well with Python development. I used to have Linux Mint dual booted with Windows on my netbook but now have a better laptop, an ASUS ROG G751JL-DS71. I know this can take a beating but other laptops/pcs I use (friend's, at work, on vacation, etc) may not have the same capabilities. I'm looking for a fast, lightweight solution that I can use to work on my programming projects on the go or at home.

My solution for this would be a bootable USB drive that has Linux installed. I'd use Google Drive folders to store my programs and projects but I'd use the portable Linux environment for the development aspect. My question is, should I get a USB drive with a lot of storage (64GB), and how well would I be able to work on my programs and projects while on the go from within the bootable Linux environment?

Does anyone else do something similar with any other programming language? The only problem I can see coming from this is the installation of text editors and IDEs taking up a lot of space, and the resources it may take to compile/execute programs within the same environment. I believe they'd use the current computer's resources but may run very slow. The best distro for this purpose, and the one I used on my netbook, would probably be Linux Mint XFCE. I would only use this for working on my programming projects while on the go, not for saving media or downloading Steam games to play on. Purely web browsing, programming and programming related applications/resources.

Thanks in advance for everyone's input.

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closed as off-topic by GlenH7, gnat, MichaelT, Bart van Ingen Schenau, durron597 Jun 16 at 13:52

  • This question does not appear to be about software development within the scope defined in the help center.
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I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not about a conceptual programming issue. –  GlenH7 Jun 15 at 21:19
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The reason why you weren't able to find any similar questions on the site is because the question is off-topic for Programmers. –  GlenH7 Jun 15 at 21:19
    
Is this the wrong place to ask a conceptual question about software development? I'm asking for ideas on the best way to work on software development on the go, which I think is almost literally the text in the description for this section. I have an idea on how I'd like to develop software on the go but I need input/opinions. –  emTr0 Jun 15 at 21:54
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This question is about tools and development environments, not development itself. Opinion polls are also off-topic. –  Snowman Jun 15 at 22:02
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Depending on the context, Stack Overflow and Software Recommendations may accept a tool question. SO requires practical questions related to tools programmers use. E.g. "How do I do X in IDE Y?" SoftwareRec requires specific requirements and success criteria. I think this question is off-topic at SO and too broad at SoftwareRec. –  Snowman Jun 15 at 22:15

1 Answer 1

up vote -2 down vote accepted

I'm a little confused. What is keeping you from just getting a portable copy of Python and running it off of a flash drive? I have a flash drive on my keys with a few portable compilers/IDEs and it all works fine.

I suppose you could make a live USB if thought that you would often be switching between different operating systems, but I feel like in most cases it would be overkill. Also, Linux distros and IDEs don't take up all that much space, if you decided to do it that way save yourself some money and just get a 16gb flashdrive, it should be more than enough.

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1  
Would you be able to share your implementation with me? Does this work with importing libraries like scrapy and beautifulsoup? Also, I liked working with Python in Linux so that would be my reason for the live usb without s dual boot. –  emTr0 Jun 15 at 22:07

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