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pratttech
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 89
Location: Attleboro, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
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 Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:17 pm Post subject: HELP! Too many choices-- I need some recommendations. |
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I really like Gentoo's utter configurability, but I have to admit it is a bit overwhelming. I was hoping for some input from more experienced Gentoo users on kernel, system applications, and installation decisions. I finished a stage3 and now that I'm more familiar with the Gentoo install I think I'm going to try building a fully optimized stage1. However, I'm not a developer by any means and I have to admit to guessing when I set many of my options the first time around. This time through I'd like to know why I should or shouldn't do.
 STAGE1: I haven't been there yet, but it sounds like I can even optimize gcc to my machine. How does this work?
KERNEL: 2.4 or 2.6?? Why one or the other? I chose 2.4 with my stage3 thinking older is more stable; but in perusing the forums 2.6 seems far more prevalent. Why?
CRON: I have no idea how vixie, fcron, or dcron(?) differ. I've setup plenty of cron jobs, but I never really paid attention to what code was running. I briefly read about each and chose fcron the first time around because it seemed to indicate support for systems which aren't always up through timers rather than actual times. My PC is a laptop and fits this profile. What is recommended? What do most people use?
DEV: udev or devfs. I don't know about this either. I chose devfs in my initial install, but again the forums seem like udev is far more common. What is recommended? What do most people use? Pro/Cons of each?
MAIL: I've really only used sendmail before, but this machine is just a laptop. I don't need anything more than a localhost relay so I can send mail from wherever I am without asking about a local smtp relay. As for receiving my mail, right now I just have pop setup in evolution; but then I wondered should I also play with fetchmail to pop my email into local unix mail? What do most people use? If not evolution, are their other MUAs that work with pilot-link?
DESKTOP: I built gnome the first time, but I'd really prefer as slim a graphical desktop as possible. I don't need the gnome games or Epiphany and Mozilla, but they came with the gnome build. I prefer Firefox. All I really need is a browser and sound/video. Are there alternative ways to install gnome selectively, or do I just build it all and the unmerge what I don't want?
TIA for the advice.  |
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hw-tph
l33t
Joined: 08 Jan 2004
Posts: 768
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: HELP! Too many choices-- I need some recommendations. |
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| pratttech wrote: |
STAGE1: I haven't been there yet, but it sounds like I can even optimize gcc to my machine. How does this work? |
Yes, you build the compiler and glibc from scratch. How it works is pretty simple - you have a small but functional system on the LiveCD, and using the compiler on the LiveCD you build the base development programs and libraries, later used for compiling the rest of the system. From a stage3 install you can rebuild everything when it is all installed, so there's no need to go with a stage1 install if you feel insecure or just don't have the time.
| Quote: | | KERNEL: 2.4 or 2.6?? Why one or the other? I chose 2.4 with my stage3 thinking older is more stable; but in perusing the forums 2.6 seems far more prevalent. Why? |
The 2.6 series adds a lot of functionality, and perhaps more important for Gentooists - performance. For most people it works very well, and it is by no means more troublesome to use a 2.6 kernel compared to a 2.4 one.
| Quote: | | CRON: I have no idea how vixie, fcron, or dcron(?) differ. I've setup plenty of cron jobs, but I never really paid attention to what code was running. I briefly read about each and chose fcron the first time around because it seemed to indicate support for systems which aren't always up through timers rather than actual times. My PC is a laptop and fits this profile. What is recommended? What do most people use? |
I would think Vixie cron is the most common cron on Gentoo systems. Coming from a Debian background I was used to Vixie cron so I haven't bothered trying another one. For making sure needed cron jobs are run you can use sys-apps/anacron (which runs cron jobs that were left out due to system downtime).
| Quote: | | DEV: udev or devfs. I don't know about this either. I chose devfs in my initial install, but again the forums seem like udev is far more common. What is recommended? What do most people use? Pro/Cons of each? |
devfs is officially depreceated in the 2.6 series kernels but still supported. udev is a more modern and flexible approach, but either will do fine on a Gentoo system. Make sure you read the Gentoo udev guide if you want to try udev, and also check out this LinuxJournal article.
| Quote: | | MAIL: I've really only used sendmail before, but this machine is just a laptop. I don't need anything more than a localhost relay so I can send mail from wherever I am without asking about a local smtp relay. As for receiving my mail, right now I just have pop setup in evolution; but then I wondered should I also play with fetchmail to pop my email into local unix mail? What do most people use? If not evolution, are their other MUAs that work with pilot-link? |
I have grown quite fond of postfix since I moved to Gentoo. I was using Exim before but now I find postfix to be easier to configure. There is quite a lot of postfix discussion on these forums and it seems it's the most common full-featured MTA on Gentoo right now (this is just me assuming so don't quote me on that).
| Quote: | | DESKTOP: I built gnome the first time, but I'd really prefer as slim a graphical desktop as possible. I don't need the gnome games or Epiphany and Mozilla, but they came with the gnome build. I prefer Firefox. All I really need is a browser and sound/video. Are there alternative ways to install gnome selectively, or do I just build it all and the unmerge what I don't want? |
I usually build the full Gnome installation since it's handy to have all the apps, but for desktop I alter between Openbox/fbpanel and Enlightenment. It's really up to you, and you'll find lots of discussions on what's better and what's not on these forums. Everything is subjective so use whatever pleases you and don't mind what others say about it.
| Quote: | | TIA for the advice. |
You're welcome. 
Håkan |
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scoobydu
Veteran
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
Posts: 1076
Location: 'Mind the Gap'
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:45 pm Post subject: Re: HELP! Too many choices-- I need some recommendations. |
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| pratttech wrote: | I really like Gentoo's utter configurability, but I have to admit it is a bit overwhelming. I was hoping for some input from more experienced Gentoo users on kernel, system applications, and installation decisions. I finished a stage3 and now that I'm more familiar with the Gentoo install I think I'm going to try building a fully optimized stage1. However, I'm not a developer by any means and I have to admit to guessing when I set many of my options the first time around. This time through I'd like to know why I should or shouldn't do.
STAGE1: I haven't been there yet, but it sounds like I can even optimize gcc to my machine. How does this work?
>>>> You configure your /etc/make.conf to you specific machine, using whatever compiler options you may want to try. Search the forums for more specifics for your proc.
KERNEL: 2.4 or 2.6?? Why one or the other? I chose 2.4 with my stage3 thinking older is more stable; but in perusing the forums 2.6 seems far more prevalent. Why?
>>>> 2.6 Becoming very stable, more hardware support, patchsets now patch against 2.6.x
CRON: I have no idea how vixie, fcron, or dcron(?) differ. I've setup plenty of cron jobs, but I never really paid attention to what code was running. I briefly read about each and chose fcron the first time around because it seemed to indicate support for systems which aren't always up through timers rather than actual times. My PC is a laptop and fits this profile. What is recommended? What do most people use?
>>>> Don't use cronjobs, but use vixie.
DEV: udev or devfs. I don't know about this either. I chose devfs in my initial install, but again the forums seem like udev is far more common. What is recommended? What do most people use? Pro/Cons of each?
>>>> devfs, but udev is becoming the standard in 2.6 kernels, so I'll have to change sooner or later.
MAIL: I've really only used sendmail before, but this machine is just a laptop. I don't need anything more than a localhost relay so I can send mail from wherever I am without asking about a local smtp relay. As for receiving my mail, right now I just have pop setup in evolution; but then I wondered should I also play with fetchmail to pop my email into local unix mail? What do most people use? If not evolution, are their other MUAs that work with pilot-link?
>>>> Don't use it. but there is loads in the forums
DESKTOP: I built gnome the first time, but I'd really prefer as slim a graphical desktop as possible. I don't need the gnome games or Epiphany and Mozilla, but they came with the gnome build. I prefer Firefox. All I really need is a browser and sound/video. Are there alternative ways to install gnome selectively, or do I just build it all and the unmerge what I don't want?
>>>> firefox is great, waimea or flux are good light wm's. Portage will install what is needed for a particular app. If it needs gnome libs, it will install them. I only use gtk2 myself though. No gnome or kde for me!
>>>> Take a look at the url in my sig ... it has a list of window managers you could check out, and a good list of starting applications.
TIA for the advice. |
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Tyan Tiger K8W, 2xOpteron 240,Powerbook5,6 15" 1.5g, Macbook Black 2g, Mac Mini 1g, Ipod P60g.
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loki99
Advocate
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 2056
Location: Vienna, €urope
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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wow pretty good questions for your sixth post!
as being a non-techie the only thing i can somehow help you out is the desktop. take a look at xfce4. it´s slim fast and based on gtk. i really like it because i only got installed what i really need! so it is esier for me to know my way around.
about the kernel: 2.6 is absolutly stable( for 2.6.7 that is). the reasons why you should use it is that the newer kernel supports newer hardware and has a bunch of new features and bug fixes. but i don´t really know which features have been added. i hope someone else could explain.
concerning udev or devfs? udev seems to be the future but devfs works fine for me so i haven´t switched (yet). |
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pratttech
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 89
Location: Attleboro, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 11:58 pm Post subject: Re: HELP! Too many choices-- I need some recommendations. |
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Thank you all for your responses, but I think I'm a bit more confused A couple of answers I received just lead me on to more questions.
| scoobydu wrote: |
>>>> Don't use cronjobs, but use vixie.
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Isn't vixie-cron just one of the available replacement crond? If so, is it so alien to traditional cron that the concept of jobs does not apply anymore? Please elaborate on why you are saying use vixie What features does it bring? Like I mentioned, first time around I chose fcron. Anyone know how vixie and fcron compare?
| scoobydu wrote: |
I only use gtk2 myself though. No gnome or kde for me!
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Okay this is definitely confusing me. I understand choosing just a wm, or putting a desktop environment like Gnome or KDE on top of said wm. However, I was under the impresssion that gtk was a simply a graphics devlopment toolkit, in other words afaintk just a library that some of my X apps would utilize for their display. I don't understand your comment here. |
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scoobydu
Veteran
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
Posts: 1076
Location: 'Mind the Gap'
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 12:10 am Post subject: Re: HELP! Too many choices-- I need some recommendations. |
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| pratttech wrote: | Okay so now I'm a bit more confused A couple of answers I received just lead me on to more questions.
| scoobydu wrote: |
>>>> Don't use cronjobs, but use vixie.
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Isn't vixie-cron just one of the available replacement crond? If so, is it so alien to traditional cron that the concept of jobs does not apply anymore? Please elaborate on why you are saying use vixie What features does it bring? Like I mentioned, first time around I chose fcron. Anyone know how vixie and fcron compare?
| scoobydu wrote: |
I only use gtk2 myself though. No gnome or kde for me!
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Okay this is definitely confusing me. I understand choosing just a wm, or putting a desktop environment like Gnome or KDE on top of said wm. However, I was under the impresssion that gtk was a simply a graphics devlopment toolkit, in other words afaintk just a library that some of my X apps would utilize for their display. I don't understand your comment here. |
You need to do some searches in the forum on the differances between cron apps. As I say, I don't use cron jobs.
Check out here -> http://www.gnomefiles.org/index.php
Its confusing as its for gnome files, that use the gtk+ toolkit (GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces)
Some of the apps need some gnome libs but definately not all of them.
Gaim, Xcdroast, rox, firefox just use gtk+.
Try: emerge -p gnome and see what portage want's to install ... then try emerge -p gaim, and see what that needs to install!! Just alot less.
_________________
Tyan Tiger K8W, 2xOpteron 240,Powerbook5,6 15" 1.5g, Macbook Black 2g, Mac Mini 1g, Ipod P60g.
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caljoe
n00b
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 59
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 12:51 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Question KERNEL: 2.4 or 2.6?? Why one or the other? I chose 2.4 with my stage3 thinking older is more stable; but in perusing the forums 2.6 seems far more prevalent. Why?
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It depends on your hardware. I have a toshiba laptop and the 2.6 kernel includes very useful acpi patches for it...
| Quote: |
Question DESKTOP: I built gnome the first time, but I'd really prefer as slim a graphical desktop as possible. I don't need the gnome games or Epiphany and Mozilla, but they came with the gnome build. I prefer Firefox. All I really need is a browser and sound/video. Are there alternative ways to install gnome selectively, or do I just build it all and the unmerge what I don't want?
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As loki99 said, you should have a look at xfce4. It's a very light window manager. You just put on your desktop what you want. It's not a desktop environment, so you don't get any application with it. And it is very easy to configure, including defining custom key shortcuts. |
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provicemo
Apprentice
Joined: 12 Dec 2003
Posts: 201
Location: Detroit, MI
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 2:43 am Post subject: |
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When it comes to udev vs. devfs, I would go with udev.
BUT, it's very easy to switch from one to the other (or use both) so its simple enough to just install like the guides say and go with devfs for right now.
Once your all setup you can go back and fuss with udev |
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Installing Gentoo
