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p0indext0r n00b
Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 10 Location: Toronto / Canada
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 1:16 am Post subject: Convince me... |
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Hey, I've snooping around this forum for some time now and I was wondering if any of you guy/gals can just give me a couple of nudges to make me fully agree to install gentoo.
I've been playing around with two distro's, ArchLinux and Slackware. Arch has some really good points and many bad points which seem to be becoming more and more annoying, I still really like it. Right now I'm using slackware with dropline gnome, it's great but slack doesn't really update smoothly... even with swaret which is really cool but still has it's quirks. Portage looks amazing from what I've been seeing and it looks like what I'm looking for.
The main thing I'm looking for is a distro which has well maintained packages (repositories/ebuilds/pkgbuilds, whatever) which are up to date and easily kept up to date, seemlessly. I don't really expect to find a bug free distro, because they all have their hiccups here and there. I love the slackware configurability and how everything is layed out, I love arch's speed but hate where packages are installed (most if not all are installed in the /opt directory... which is good and bad) which can be changed if I manually edit some PKGBUILDS. How is Gentoo layed out?
Anyway, thanks for bothering to read this, any input would be really great.
*NOTE* plz don't turn this into a flame, from what I've seen so far many Arch and Gentoo ppl don't get along... for some crazy reason, which is completly dumb because linux is about choice.
Thanks. _________________ -- w00dst0ck |
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andrewy l33t
Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 602
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:17 am Post subject: |
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It sounds to me like Gentoo is exactly what you're looking for.
Portage is the best updating tool I've seen (and I've used pretty much everything), and it's just as fast as Arch, since everything's compiled from source.
It also generally installs stuff to /usr or /usr/local, instead of /opt. |
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Gandalf the White Guru
Joined: 17 Dec 2003 Posts: 320 Location: Verdun, Canada
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:25 am Post subject: |
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andrewy wrote: | It sounds to me like Gentoo is exactly what you're looking for.
Portage is the best updating tool I've seen (and I've used pretty much everything), and it's just as fast as Arch, since everything's compiled from source.
It also generally installs stuff to /usr or /usr/local, instead of /opt. |
Second that. I've tried at least a dozen distros, all of which with different methods of maintaining packages. I'll admit, when I first read about gentoo, I said no way, but, I finally tried it, and fell in love immediately. Software is so incredibly easy to maintain, portage is IMHO the best program ever made. The community is one of the best features of gentoo, there is no problem that the community cannot solve. |
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Given M. Sur l33t
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Posts: 648 Location: No such file or directory
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:38 am Post subject: |
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I can't really add too much to what the others said, other than just give it a try. If you don't like it then switch to another. It's free afterall _________________ What is the best [insert-type-of-program-here]? |
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HydroSan l33t
Joined: 04 Mar 2004 Posts: 764 Location: The Kremlin (aka Canada)
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:01 am Post subject: |
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If the installation puts you off, remember that the people on the forum including myself would be happy to answer any questions you have, no matter how 'noob'-ish. Once you get up and running, you don't really need to touch anything ever again aside from updating, which can be taken care of quite easily with 'emerge -U world'. _________________ I was a Gangster for Capitalism, by Major General Smedley Butler.
Server status: Currently down, being replaced with fresh install - 20% completed. |
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andrewy l33t
Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 602
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:11 am Post subject: |
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The installation is also suprisingly easy, I expected it to be much harder when I first installed Gentoo. |
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dalek Veteran
Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Posts: 1353 Location: Mississippi USA
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:13 am Post subject: |
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I switched from Mandrake a good while back. I was going to install Gentoo and then Slackware. I never got around to installing Slackware. There is no need in my opinion. I had found perfection.
Since then, I type in emerge sync && emerge -u world about once a week when I go to bed and that takes care of updating.
The only problem I have had is during etc-update. Never let it update fstab, rc.conf, or group files. Fstab should be obvious, not sure about rc.conf, but it always wants to remove users from the wheel group and then you can not switch to root. Other than that little learning experience, it has been great.
I did have 'fun' installing. It took me a few times especially with the kernel. To me the install is the hardest part. Once you get past that, it's heaven.
Convinced yet?
Later
_________________ My rig: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P mobo, AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core CPU, ZALMAN CNPS10X Performa CPU cooler,
G.SKILL 32GB DDR3 PC3 12800 Memory Nvidia GTX-650 video card LG W2253 Monitor
60TBs of hard drive space using LVM
Cooler Master HAF-932 Case |
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placeholder Advocate
Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:32 am Post subject: |
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The install is a little odd the first time, but if you follow the install directions perfectly then it will be nothing. I myself made many mistakes doing what I thought I should do instead of what it said. Just stick to what it says and all will be good. If you make a mistake, it generally will help you learn more about Linux so it's not a bad thing.
Once it's up and going, updating and installing software is as easy as can be. |
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p0indext0r n00b
Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 10 Location: Toronto / Canada
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:44 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the replies. I'll have to get a few things orgainzed first with backing up and all. Once I get a chance I'll install it.
Oh btw, the installation doesn't put me off at all, I'm not new to linux, just thought I'd ask these simple questions because I always love to hear ppl's opinions before I go forth and get an opinion of my own.
Thanks again for all the replies . I hope I'll be able to call it home. _________________ -- w00dst0ck |
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placeholder Advocate
Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:55 am Post subject: |
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I hope to see you call it /home as well. lol |
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Dr Gonzo Apprentice
Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 276 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 5:36 am Post subject: |
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*sniff* I had one of these threads, too, when I first started..
Needless to say, I'm still here, and I have never had more fun with my computer. The people on this forum are great, too. Better than I ever could have hoped for.
I hope you enjoy it. _________________ "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."
George W. Bush |
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andrewy l33t
Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 602
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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Pwnz3r wrote: | The install is a little odd the first time, but if you follow the install directions perfectly then it will be nothing. I myself made many mistakes doing what I thought I should do instead of what it said. Just stick to what it says and all will be good. If you make a mistake, it generally will help you learn more about Linux so it's not a bad thing.
Once it's up and going, updating and installing software is as easy as can be. |
It's interesting to me that so many people are saying the installation is strange/hard/whatever.
I was actually hoping for a harder install process when I first installed Gentoo, because I wanted to learn as much as possible by installing it. The easy install process dissapointed me, but the rest of the distro certainly made up for it. |
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placeholder Advocate
Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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I wasn't really hard as much as I didn't follow the manual correctly. lol |
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superjaded l33t
Joined: 05 Jul 2002 Posts: 802
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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Pwnz3r wrote: | I hope to see you call it /home as well. lol |
Don't you mean call it ~?
Or maybe $HOME. |
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placeholder Advocate
Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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Or maybe I meant 127.0.0.1 or ~/. |
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p0indext0r n00b
Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 10 Location: Toronto / Canada
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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LOL you dorks .
Anyway, I was wondering if there was a quick (small) installation guide that I could use instead of the handbook. Because I need something that I can print out and not have to use 100+ pages... does something like this exsist?
I have the older 1.4 install guide printed out, because awhile back I was going to use gentoo but never got around to it due to some projects I was working on at the time. Does this guide still work?
Thanks in advance. So far I'm very pleased with this forum, there are some pretty damn cool ppl here (ME ). _________________ -- w00dst0ck |
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superjaded l33t
Joined: 05 Jul 2002 Posts: 802
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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p0indext0r wrote: |
I have the older 1.4 install guide printed out, because awhile back I was going to use gentoo but never got around to it due to some projects I was working on at the time. Does this guide still work? |
Well, the latest LiveCD I have is a 1.4 CD but I've installed from post 2004.0 stage using the handbook after 2004.0 and it seemed to work fine and I don't remember much difference between my first few installs of gentoo of pre-2004.0 (one using 1.2 at stage1, another using 1.4 at stage3) and that installation. Your current 1.4 installation guide is, most likely, still applicable.
But, do you need to print out the guide? If you have internet access on the machine you're installing gentoo on, the LiveCD provides you with a copy of lynx and/or links, a text-based web browser. So, assuming that gentoo can properly autodetect your ethernet card (assuming you're using lan), you can just read the documentation in on virtual terminal while you do the actual installation on another virtual terminal. That's what I've always done, anyway.
Heck, IIRC, you shouldn't even need internet access since the CD should provide you a copy of the documentation as well. |
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p0indext0r n00b
Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 10 Location: Toronto / Canada
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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OOOOOH! Thats perfect then, I'll just use lynx while installing.
Thanks. _________________ -- w00dst0ck |
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qsela n00b
Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 7 Location: Finland
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Skittle n00b
Joined: 08 Jun 2004 Posts: 11
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 2:52 am Post subject: |
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p0indext0r wrote: |
Anyway, I was wondering if there was a quick (small) installation guide that I could use instead of the handbook. Because I need something that I can print out and not have to use 100+ pages... does something like this exsist? |
I had a similar problem: No ink in the printer . I didnt want to sacrifice any information, so copied the install guide in HTML format from the live CD onto an old P133 Lappie i had, and referenced the entire thing from that. Worked just as well as paper, especially considering i wasnt going to get the pages mixed or lost.
Have fun and good luck |
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TanNewt Retired Dev
Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 7:46 am Post subject: |
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Yeah I tried linux after wanting to for a while and finally getting cable internet so I could easily download whats needed. Anyhow I dual boot with WinXP, I spend most of my time on Gentoo. Portage is a great, easy way of and installing and rocks for udpating also. Make sure when you start that you understand etc-update I've lost an fstab file that way.
As for the people who say the install is horrible they have obviously never done a Linux From Scratch install. It teaches you a ton but gets tedious. Gentoo is a happy medium. It gets you comfortable to the console with out banishing you to the console for eternity typing ./configure make over and over. |
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IvanHoe l33t
Joined: 05 Oct 2002 Posts: 658
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 7:55 am Post subject: Re: Convince me... |
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p0indext0r wrote: | Hey, I've snooping around this forum for some time now and I was wondering if any of you guy/gals can just give me a couple of nudges to make me fully agree to install gentoo. |
Why would you need convincing? Just install it and see if it's for you. |
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Frodg l33t
Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Posts: 761
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Yep - just install it and you will not find any reason to change .... _________________ Aerosolo ergo sum - I spray therefore I am
Gentoo - Registered Linux User # 361400 |
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wswartzendruber Veteran
Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 1261 Location: Idaho, USA
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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I'm a n00b who had no idea how to work Debian of all things, and Gentoo was great! _________________ Git has obsoleted SVN.
10mm Auto has obsoleted 45 ACP. |
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Archangel1 Veteran
Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 1212 Location: Work
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:53 am Post subject: |
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I wouldn't actually say the install is horrible - it's quite interesting since I hadn't really used Linux before so I was learning as I went. You have to engage your brain which is actually quite pleasant, rather than the Windows one where you seem to spend the whole time clicking "next" and telling it what country you live in 18 times.
And with computer speeds now it's not all that painful - my desktop does bootstrap & emerge system in three or four hours, often overnight. If that's still too much there's stage 3, which works well too - I'd be interested to know how long the install would actually take if it was completely automated. I bet it wouldn't be as long as, say, Windows.... |
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