Does it matter which version of Linux you use?

I am setting up a completely new Linux system to run my small CNC router. Does it matter which 'version' of Linux I install? I see several references to Debian Linux and I wonder if it makes any difference as to which version I install. I will be running LinuxCNC.

linuxcnc officially uses Debian - so in theory that should be the easiest to use linuxcnc with.

In practice Debian (in stock form) is not as nice to use as say Ubuntu or Mint - not quite as user friendly. There are guides to using Mint with linuxcnc on the forum - but it's more work and a little more technical to get it set up initially.

Any other versions used really puts the onus on you to work out any problems with getting linuxcnc to work.

As your first experience I would probably stick with Debian and linuxcnc's live CD install - you can always change later (or dual boot)

All my opinion of course.

Chris M

Some more opinions. I have found that the rough edges of Debian are considerably smoother in versions 8+. Debian Stretch is almost as easy as using Mint. The ease of installing with the Linuxcnc Stretch ISO far out ways the user interface (In fact the same UIs as used in Mint are just a few mouse clicks away using Synaptic to install them.)

That said, back to your original question. Linuxcnc can run on any version of Linux provided,

1) That version has, or you can install into it, a real-time kernel supported by Linuxcnc. (Linuxcnc can be installed for simulations without real-time but it will not be able to control machinery without it.)

2) If your distro. of choice is not one of the mainline Linuxcnc distros, then you will have to build Linuxcnc from source to install it.

Is there somewhere instructions for installing LinuxCNC on Mint without the real-time kernel. We have five Linux Mint 19.2 machines used for training users in a range of software. It would be very useful to add simulated LinuxCNC to the training suite.

You just download and install the version you want. I think it will install without issues once you enable the source repositories.
But it will not control machines.

Thanks - I downloaded linuxcnc-uspace_2.7.14_amd64.deb and attenpted to install using gdebi package installer but received the following error:
Dependancy is not satisfiable: python2.7-imaging | python-imaging

tommylight wrote: once you enable the source repositories.

Thanks - I think I am getting there but I cannot find repositories for Linux Mint - only debian wheezy, ubuntu precise and ubuntu lucid.

Debian stretch repo.

When I added the Debian repo I got the following error:
GPG error: ftp.au.debian.org/debian stretch Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 7638D0442B90D010 NO_PUBKEY 04EE7237B7D453EC NO_PUBKEY EF0F382A1A7B6500The repository ' ftp.au.debian.org/debian stretch Release' is not signed.
Perhaps I need to source it somewhere else