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tmpvar
n00b
Joined: 22 Jun 2003
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:58 am Post subject: Standard install options |
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hey everyone,
lurker here, generally i run through the same steps to generate a working gentoo config.
unfortunately i get annoyed with having to do the same tasks repetatively, although i do love the terminal configuration of gentoo. so i suggest a more efficient install method, i know that there has been attempts at a gui installer, but thats not for me and alot of other people since we are doing a remote install.
basically i have realized that getting gentoo up and running is the hardest part of the gentoo install. if that could be reduced to a few simple network/fdisk/mkfs/mount commands i believe it would make it that much easier
basically what i propose is a generic set of configs based on what sort of box you are trying to set up, for example::
x86 server, x86 desktop, etc.. this would be very benificial with people that dont know what in the hell they are doing, they could just load a default conf setup and run a script and they would be done.
just a thought!
(EOF) Tmpvar |
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runningwithscissors
Guru
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 454
Location: the third world
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 11:10 am Post subject: |
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It always feels well set up after the install, because you are doing the install yourself, and you won't ever criticise your own work, would you?  |
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Philantrop
Retired Dev
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 1130
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Standard install options |
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| tmpvar wrote: | basically what i propose is a generic set of configs based on what sort of box you are trying to set up, for example::
x86 server, x86 desktop, etc.. this would be very benificial with people that dont know what in the hell they are doing, they could just load a default conf setup and run a script and they would be done. |
People who don't know what they're doing shouldn't be using Gentoo in the first place. Period.
Using a source-based distribution despite not knowing what you're doing is asking for trouble. Compilation will fail sooner or later be it caused by the sources themselves, broken dependencies, the compiler, bad ram, libtool, other helper tools or any combination of the above. (Disclaimer: I'm not implying those who ran into those problems didn't know their ways around Linux.) These are just a few examples of what can go wrong in a source-based distribution.
That's only during installing stuff, though. If people don't know what they're doing, they will kill their system sooner or later. The only remedy is to learn at least to some degree about how things work. Generic configuration files don't help to achieve this.
Furthermore, people should use those packages they really need, not what someone else thinks makes a good desktop/server/whatever. This is not really what Gentoo stands for. One of its great strengths is that Gentoo guides you through the initial install and then it's your turn to decide where the road leads to. You want KDE? Great, emerge it. Gnome? Really? ;) Ok, emerge it. That is easy.
On the other hand, isn't Gentoo already simple enough anyway? We have a GUI installer (no link to this, cf. final link in this post). The Gentoo Handbook is the best Linux installation manual I've ever seen. Even beginners should be able to read and use it to get their system up and running. If they aren't, they need to learn it because it'll never be so easy again.
One more thought: If people used such base configuration sets, what about the rest of us? Will their systems be and stay secure? Or will people rely on generic and common configurations that might turn out to be insecure later? Will their machines be used as drones for the next DDoS attack on your or my servers?
No, thank you. We're not Suse.
For an even more detailed analysis why such things as you proposed are evil, please read Stephen J. Turnbull's (XEmacs) excellent essay on attitude. |
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nixnut
Bodhisattva
Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Posts: 10974
Location: the dutch mountains
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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Moved from Installing Gentoo to Gentoo Chat.
Not a support question, so moved here.
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tmpvar
n00b
Joined: 22 Jun 2003
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: AH, but of course. |
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Philantrop,
good point  |
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slougi
Apprentice
Joined: 12 Nov 2002
Posts: 222
Location: Oulu, Finland
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, Gentoo was my first Linux experience. All I had to go on was the excellent installation instructions, back when Gentoo 1.2 was all new and shiny.
Never had any serious trouble. |
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tmpvar
n00b
Joined: 22 Jun 2003
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 1:05 am Post subject: |
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HAHA, thats interesting..
ive used other distro's but my first 2-3 installs of gentoo were hell.
as Philantrop mentioned, there CAN be issues with many different parts of the install when working with a source based distro. I was not a complete newb then, but I do not have time to fiddle around with a distro until it 'works'.
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Philantrop
Retired Dev
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 1130
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| tmpvar wrote: | | ive used other distro's but my first 2-3 installs of gentoo were hell. [...] but I do not have time to fiddle around with a distro until it 'works'. |
Well, you could have installed Gentoo correctly the first time.  |
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