To install or not to install (gentoo)

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I've been runing Gentoo on my server for several months, and have been quite pleased. I run RedHat on my main system and have been torn on whether to replace it with Gentoo.

Here are my reasons to stick with RedHat
1. Easy to use (graphically speaking) and stable
2. It's one of the most popular distros so I never have trouble finding software on RPM.
3. Their collection of graphical configuration utilities
4. Ximian RedCarpet
5. RedHat 8 is coming out soon

Reasons to switch to Gentoo
1. More secure (easier to secure)
2. Emerge/Portage
3. System performance
4. I know what I'm doing and can fix just about anything thats fixable and configure anything configurable.
5. I really like Gentoo

So my question to you is:
What reasons would you give for or against a decision to switch? (and not Gentoo is cool and redhat sucks ... and please no RedHat bashing)

I've never installed X on Gentoo, so I'm also asking what you think of X on Gentoo?

Thanks in advance to all who reply!
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- Joseph Monti
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lanark · Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 9:33 pm Post subject:

I run X with blackbox on my gentoobox, and it runs fast and wonderful

ikshaar · Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 10:10 pm Post subject:

My own experience :

I switched from Redhat 7.1/Ximian1.4 to Gentoo 1.2/Gnome2 6 months ago (upgrading to 1.4 right now). So far I'm using as my workstation without trouble. Of course, I had to fix few things but these forums answered almost all my questions.

I'm not a Linux expert, I started 2 years ago only, but I really learn a lot using Gentoo. Also, the speed. Of course, the basic install usually doesn't have all the servers you need, but still, it's a pleasure to have only and exactly what you need/want running on your machine.

I tested Redhat 8(?) ("Limbo and Null"), it's very tempting. But after Gentoo, you can't go back

I was frustrated not to find the same "tweakability". Still, for the lamda user, Redhat is probably better.

So if you have one spare disk/partition, just give it a try and after a while you may change your default boot to a another partition

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Chickpea · l33t Joined: 03 Jun 2002 Posts: 846 Location: Vancouver WA

I have a similar experience with Linux as Ikshaar. Only have used Linux for a couple of years. Started out with Mandrake because it was supposed to be easy and it was but I never learned anything. then I found the Linux From Scratch project/site and built two custom machines. Really loved them but had a hard drive crash (hard drives really old) and went back to a newer version of Mandrake. I wasnt as happy. Yes, the beautiful graphical installs are nice and pretty but I believe once you have figure out how to do partioning and compiling, you dont need the bells and whistles.

My reasoning for choosing Gentoo was it was an easier way to rebuild Linux from the ground up with excellent package management And no bloat. I have a very nice sleek system that is small and fast. and I know where most everything is.

My reason for staying with Gentoo is the great support via forums and packages come out quickly and it seems very secure to me. These people are really on the ball

Cat

rommel · Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2002 4:22 am Post subject:

well i am not a linux guru and have only been using the os since april but i started with gentoo and really cant see why anyone that has used it would wnat a prepackaged canned distro....if you (like you have stated) can fix anything that goes wrong and you know what your doing i am not sure why your asking the question in the first place...bored?

jthj · Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2002 5:40 am Post subject:

I also used redhat before gentoo. I have to say swiching to gentoo was one of the best things I ever did. It's so much more tweakable. It runs faster. Boots faster. Has less bloat and I'm in 100% control over what I have. Plus I've run into very few packages I wanted that weren't in portage and protage usualy has the newest versions. So I vote yes switch.
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eros_42us · n00b Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 2

I think it was definately worth the switch. Going from Red Hat 7.3 to Gentoo took a bit because the tools that I normally use weren't there and some configuration techniques aren't quite the same (such as useradd giving a user a default shell). Once I got passed the differences and started getting into the core of Gentoo, I was hooked. I fell in love with the ability to make a custom kernel from the go and have complete control over the setup process.

Because of Gentoo, I feel like I am learning all the little steps that I took for granted and it makes me a more complete professional. Three cheers to the Gentoo Dev team!
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pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

I wonder what the responses would be on a RH forum?

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Kosmo · n00b Joined: 24 May 2002 Posts: 74

you say yourself you are skilled enough to tweak anything, so i wouldn't know why you wouldn't switch. I use gentoo with X and fluxbox on my system, and it runs very smooth...

keifir · Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2002 12:25 am Post subject: