I consider Gentoo is nearly dead

Ridrok · Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:55 pm Post subject: I consider Gentoo is nearly dead

Hello all,

Why do I write it?

Because many many packages are deleted and many useful are still missing
- No more dev-libs/ace: I had to remove it for the last update, but I need it.
- No DeadBeef to play dff and dsf files
- No WMware packages
- No Lutris to play windows games
- No proper mail client (like Mailspring)
- No more Icap for my server that I need to have https with squid
- etc...

I don't know what you focus on, but Gentoo is now a base linux with less and less software.
I have VMware softs, Lutris and DeadBeef and many more, but to have them, I need to add tons of overlays that cause conflicts with your updates from time to time.

So now Gentoo can no more be used as a Desktop primary OS nor as security server for me.

What is the point of Gentoo now? I ask this question open. But... I also search for another linux distribution that has some future to be run as a primary OS on a main desktop client AND and another to run as proxy/router server.
I am gentoo for more than 10 years on servers and 5 months on my main desktop, but seeing the deleted and blocked packages in last months I miss more and more things.

Do I really need to build everything from github sources for things I need or there is an "supported" overlay that contains many things a user on desktop would need, or do I need to switch to another linux brand?

Open questions... I love Gentoo for a long time but I feel I have to change now.

Ridrok

mike155 · Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:20 pm Post subject:

Have you looked at Gentoo overlays? Ebuilds for most of the packages you mentioned seem to be there.

Hu · Administrator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 22684

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fedeliallalinea · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:10 am Post subject:

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saboya · Guru Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 552 Location: Brazil

I think there's a legitimate argument to be made to say Gentoo might be dying, although Gentoo was never a "big hit" distro to begin with, so I don't see the huge decline, just a steady "niche distro" status.

However, I don't think none of those points are actually valid to support that claim. Some are personal preference, and some are just outright wrong (lutris is in the main tree).

Also, it is worth mentioning that Gentoo isn't the most "user-friendly" distro out there, and the concepts behind its functionality encourage you to have some ownership to your own system, and that includes managing overlays, applying custom patches and creating ebuilds of your own.

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John R. Graham · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 6:58 pm Post subject:

Moved from Portage & Programming to Gentoo Chat. Not a support request so it fits better here.

Hmm. Should I merge this thread with the why Gentoo sucks, and why it will ultimately die thread? It, at least, has been dead now for almost 5 years.

- John
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 7:49 pm Post subject:

Gentoo has been reported to be dying since I installed in the middle of 2002.

Its like

Fitzcarraldo · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 7:51 pm Post subject:

The Python script acefile to read/test/extract ACE 1.0 and 2.0 archives also looks promising: https://pypi.org/project/acefile/

I don't think there is a need to install it, just unpack acefile-0.6.12.tar.gz and run the Python script in ~/acefile-0.6.12/:

Ant P. · Watchman Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 6920

The sad thing (for OP, not for us) is that most of those questions would have answers if they weren't worded in such a needlessly antagonistic way. But he's gone now, and we're richer for it.

Zucca · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 10:25 pm Post subject:

nubiocicarini · Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 11:40 pm Post subject:

I am not a technology professional, just a user who maintains a linux desktop system by believing in the advanced linux philosophy. Already kept the most popular linux distributions and gentoo is more advanced compared to others, which allows higher performance. What's more, it's the distribution I found with the fewest problems. All the stones I found in gentoo got a solution in the community. I believe that if the colleague had consulted the community for each of the questions he posed, he would have come to a completely opposite conclusion, because here there are very aware people in the system. But he preferred to draw that conclusion on his own and so came up with an incoherent answer to what it really is. He loses by leaving gentoo.
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fedeliallalinea · Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 10:05 am Post subject:

Anon-E-moose · Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 10:38 am Post subject:

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stahlsau · Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 5:09 pm Post subject:

actually i wondered a bit, too - coming back to linux / gentoo after about 10 years, i noticed the forums are much less busy than when i left. Huge difference, at some time i remember about 10 pages of new posts per day, now there is one.
But i have to say, i've installed the system in a few hours, and almost everything worked out of the box - despite some problems with nouveau not supporting my RTX, which is, i have to admit, a very new card.
But sound worked, network no problem (despite wireless), ...and with gentoo, i have complete control, other than with some other distros i tried, which try to keep the user away from /etc, simply said.
And gaming works too, with steam and stuff...gotta say, im very much impressed.

So, i dont think gentoo is dead or will be in near future. Maybe there are other distros, some more userfriendly for the common windows guy taking a peak at linux, which are used by more users today, but gentoo has some things to offer most others don't: _the choice_, and a lot to learn about how linux and a computer in general function, and some more...

Fitzcarraldo · Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 12:09 am Post subject:

Amity88 · Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 8:04 am Post subject:

I don't think the distro is in decline. It's just that it's not flashy to the point of attracting as many people who just want to give it a quick try.

Those of us who have been using it continue to use Gentoo. I have it in on several machines in fact. Once the configurations are set in place, not that much fiddling is needed actually. The cookie-cutter binary distros seems to be more error prone from my experience.
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