vidalinux Vs Gentoo

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

i tried insatlling gentoo in my system before and i got everything right except GRUB 'cos i have 2 HDD's and BIOS plays tricks with GRUB i guess. so i tried Vidalinux the same as gentoo stage3 with GUI . it looks and feels exactly as wat the gentoo documentation says so tell me is there any major diffrence between the 2? i'll switch to gentoo 2005.0 if it comes with a GUI
ps i think this is the right forum if not could u move it thnxk

Nard` · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jan 2005 Posts: 250

not exactly answering your question, but if you got gentoo working except the bootloader why did you use something else? Wouldn't it have been easier to ask for help on the forums

or of course, use LILO (if one doesn't work the other often does)

if you can get everything working this way then you can the other way
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rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

Nard` · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jan 2005 Posts: 250

if you can get linux to work with the same bootloader then you can get gentoo to work. it's the same thing, after all... if you really have to do you can grab from source and compile from scratch manually if portage somehow messes it up.

still, you should proboably have given LILO a try...

oh, and looked at vidalinux's site and couldn't find it relate to gentoo in any way, but i just had a brief look. if indeed it does use portage then emerge --sync && emerge -ave world and your back to gentoo

so yes, it is the same, IF it uses portage and the same tree.
_________________
Programming is the process of putting bugs in.
Debugging is the process of attempting to take bugs out, doing an ugly hack, hitting your computer, then claiming insurance.

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

Nard` · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jan 2005 Posts: 250

the only difference beetween the two is the installation then, and that it proboably babies you and you learn a lot less ;P
_________________
Programming is the process of putting bugs in.
Debugging is the process of attempting to take bugs out, doing an ugly hack, hitting your computer, then claiming insurance.

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

Nard` · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jan 2005 Posts: 250

does it? *represses comments* but the point is you already have a portage installation so your system is effectively the same as gentoo. unless as i already said they have a custom portage tree. theres no point starting from scratch, just emerge --sync && emerge -ave world and you have 2005.0! (when it's relased, and unless theres migration needed, in which case follow the guide they no doubtedly give)
_________________
Programming is the process of putting bugs in.
Debugging is the process of attempting to take bugs out, doing an ugly hack, hitting your computer, then claiming insurance.

Spent · n00b Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 55 Location: Bawlmer Hon!

I was checking out the vidalinux site the other day. They took a gentoo stage 3 .tar and added redhats anaconda installer and a couple other little things. It uses portage for package management, but they say not to do emerge -uD world or you will end up with a gentoo box not a vidalinux one. I think you have to pay for somethings too, didn't look any farther into it.

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

kimchi_sg · Advocate Joined: 26 Nov 2004 Posts: 2969

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

kimchi_sg · Advocate Joined: 26 Nov 2004 Posts: 2969

Arainach · l33t Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 609

Vidalinux has a lot of subtle problems, such as a lousy portage implementation that causes issues. I'd reccomend simply following the install guide for a Stage3 install. It's not tough at all. You simply type in the commands exactly like it tells you to.
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Gentoo: Stage3 w/ NPTL & udev, gcc 3.4.4 full rebuild
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monkey89 · Guru Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 596

rkv · n00b Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 19

sargek · Apprentice Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: Texas

Well, this may be "gentoo blasphemy" but I love Gentoo, and being a graduate student/father, flat out do not have the time to do a stage three install. It's not that can't do the install or that it's difficult - I have done it numerous times in the past when I had time, I just don't have time now. Gentoo docs are fabulous, and very easy to follow. I started with Vidalinux and now have a 2005.0 box complete with custom gentoo-sources-2.6 kernel, and the 2005.0 profile. I have done a complete emerge --update --deep world with no problems whatsoever. The system is rocking along, with the exception of some X lockups, but I believe those are an Nvagp/agpart issue which I will solve this week.

Between quarters I may rebuild the box with 2005.0, but for the time being it works quite well. As far as I can tell, Vidalinux is Gentoo under the hood with the anaconda installer. There are some other tweaks under the hood, but I have found no incompatibilities with portage, nor any configuration problems. There are various Vida config files spread out through the system, so that is the reason I may do a rebuild eventually to satisfy my "karma" about the system being pure Gentoo. I'll have to surpress the rebuild urges until class is over though...

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dark_priest · Apprentice Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 227 Location: NL

yeh, its just gentoo with a stage 3 install from a gui, thats quick, and easy

no evilness here.
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ian! · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 11:47 am Post subject:

IMHO there is no "vs.".
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dark_priest · Apprentice Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 227 Location: NL

yeh, its just gentoo, with a binary installer.

so: gentoo vs gentoo

/me scratches head
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sargek · Apprentice Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: Texas

Rebuilt the box anyway, now it's "pure" Gentoo... :wink:

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"Amongst all things, knowledge is truly the best thing: from it's not being liable ever to be stolen, from it's not being purchasable, and from it's being imperishable."

russianpirate · Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject:

i use gentoo all the time
my friend used vida for some time.. then quit

he said its easier.. but i looked at his system and im like wtf?! its all done (w/ x, gnome, panel).. no sense of personality
the only difference is the background.. well he got vida just for portage
there are no optimizations to the bootstrap or anything but some pkgs way after stage 2.. so that slows down the system's compile time

i think vida to getnoo is same as ubuntu to debian (although some may say ubuntu is better debian.. its not imo)

sargek · Apprentice Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: Texas

I have never had a successful stage two install, so I always do stage threes. I don't have a lot of time so can't spend several days getting my main box up and running - stage three suits me fine. Gentoo isn't the fastest distro I've ever used, but it certainly is the most complete, well documented, and technologically COOL(!) distro I have ever used. To save time, what I do is install the system and let the big packages (oo, mozilla, firefox) compile overnight. It works fine.

Someday I may build a stage one box just to see if I can get Gentoo to rival CRUX, the fastest distro I have ever used - bar none. I am curious to see how much of a difference building a stage one makes and if the "return on investment" is worth it. Although it freaking screams, CRUX has a funky package management system and I just can't give up my portage....

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"Amongst all things, knowledge is truly the best thing: from it's not being liable ever to be stolen, from it's not being purchasable, and from it's being imperishable."

russianpirate · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 1:29 am Post subject:

i always do stage 1.. even if it takes me a few days and few tries to install it.. one time i installed stage 1 5 days in a row.. i was gonna give up on gentoo.. installed slack and then im like wtf am i doing.. and on the next install i got it perfect

sargek · Apprentice Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Posts: 170 Location: Texas

Yeah, my install now is perfect by my standards - running smooth, updated and rock solid. I went through a stage where I was trying distros every few days: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Vidalinux, CRUX, Slack, Sourcerer, Suse (yuck!). I have always had a facination with Gentoo, and what do you know, here I am. Gentoo does everything right: package management, system configuration, etc. I'm happy!
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"Amongst all things, knowledge is truly the best thing: from it's not being liable ever to be stolen, from it's not being purchasable, and from it's being imperishable."