So you left Gentoo and now your back....

kernelcowboy

I'm giving Ubuntu server a try on my linode. I gave Gentoo a try, and I
spent just a bit too much time administering it. My Linode isn't fast, or big
or on a bit network pipe, so Gentoo worked it hard. I could have compiled
on my desktop and moved binaries over, but I felt I wasn't
getting anything done but playing with my server, so I decided to move on.

I've read plenty of posts of people leaving Gentoo for this reason and that.
And I've also read plenty of replies stating, "You'll be back."

I'm wonder how many of you have left Gentoo only to return for some reason.
I'd like to know what distro came from (went to), and why you ultimately came back.

I still use Gentoo on my AMD64 machine. I've got it tweaked with Fluxbox just as
I like it. This machine works great. It's fast, so compiles fine. I'll probably stick
with Gentoo here. But, I'm not sure any of my other machines are safe.

bjlockie · Veteran Joined: 18 Oct 2002 Posts: 1186 Location: Canada

a16b03 · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:53 pm Post subject:

I can't leave gentoo. I'm too used to all this configurations and flexibility (it's like drugs, Once you're in you can't stop)

I was using mandriva before gentoo, and since is started gentoo i know a lot more about linux.

And If i'll ever (probably never) stop usiong gentoo, i'll swich to kubuntu.

kernelcowboy · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:44 am Post subject:

Yeah, I'm having a good ole time with ubuntu server on a Linode. oh so, painless.
Can get on to other things.

But, I still like Gentoo on my amd64, no hurry to move off there.

Just on my mind ... I'm wondering what the whole blah blah is about ubuntu, isn't it just debian, and
more so on the serverside. (anyway, wrong forum.)

saptech · n00b Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 24 Location: usa

I used Gentoo for a short while, maybe over 4 years ago, and then stopped because I was on dialup. Now after all that time, I'm ready to give it another shot with a brand new shiny AMD64 system and broadband net.

During this time I have used Sourcemage Linux, another source based distro. Very good I must say...but I feel now I want to give Gentoo another shot.

Just a thought!
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Phenax · l33t Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 972

runningwithscissors · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:21 am Post subject:

jeanfrancis · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:26 am Post subject:

saptech · n00b Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 24 Location: usa

I didn't really have any problems with dialup at the time, I just went on and tried a bunch of different distros. I also decided to try sourcemage which I kept along with Debian as my main OS.

Now I'm back trying Gentoo as I've said!

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Cloim · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 02 Aug 2002 Posts: 99

baaann · Guru Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 558 Location: uk

jeanfrancis

Zmyrgel · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:33 am Post subject:

I too have fled from Gentoo only to return later

Gentoo just has too great system like portage and nice documentation on it.

Other distros that I keep coming back is the Slackware... truly the linux learning platform. Stable, easy to configure and fast to install. Usually when I bork my gentoo I just install slackware in 15min to determine how to get past some gentoo issue (usually related to encrypted root partition

)

Other distros that keep coming to my system are Debian and Arch. I just want to control my system instead of it controlling me.

I tried Fedora Core a week ago but it felt like going back to windows... too restricted and unstable for me. For example the system just hung when I logon with a user account and I couldn't change to a different console or shutdown the X at all... was forced to reboot. This was just one of the many flaws that I found in it. Not going back there anytime soon.

pandrews · n00b Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 49

I have been a Gentoo user for about two years. Started with RedHat/Fedora five years ago, then played with Debian, and now Ubuntu. Gentoo works great for my desktops. I have one set up with genkernel, and one that I manualy config.

I also have a mythtv box that was installed using knopmyth, but only because I've never wanted to mess around with it to make it "perfect"... it just needs to record/play TV.

For my laptop however, I've been a little to worried about the time it takes to install some packages if I'm away from home and find out that I need "X" program that depends on "Y" and "Z" right now. So I've been using Ubuntu on that with great success. I still have to fight through some of the options that Ubuntu "decides" for you... but in general, for a computer on the move, it just works... Unfortunatly, I don't really understand exactly what it's doing all the time, while on my desktops it's rare when I don't, but then it's a simple matter of getting on the forums, or the wiki and finding out quickly.

I have thought (usually in the middle of some broken dependency or playing with a new kernel compile) that another distro would be more efficient where my time is concered. But then I'll end up talking to my brother who uses mostly Fedora Core or Mandriva with some Ubuntu on the side how much more I enjoy digging into the OS. It's my recreation. I never realized this until I switched to Linux, but I did the same thing in (the other OS) back in the day. It's my "gaming"...

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

Moved from Other Things Gentoo
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Corona688 · Veteran Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 1204

Every couple months I look at "minimal" distros since I don't feel a multi-gigabyte-deep directory tree of tiny text files is an efficient way to store package configuration data. I always give up when I realize how backwards these "minimal" distros are in various ways.
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djay · Apprentice Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 188 Location: Israel

It seems to me, that either a working habit or wrong hardware for server were chosen.

I don't understand how come one can work with the server which compiles all the time. I have a server, which is not all that strong and fast, but once I installed Gentoo - I almost don't play with it anymore. Just an update here and there.

Yes, it depends on what server is up to do, but still - if its purpose is constant, and doesn't change all the time - you'll be ok.

If you have to change it frequently - either hardware is not adequate to sustain those changes (don't forget you are also overloading your server with services it has to support) or your choice of things this server should support.
Make up your mind. You can't run file server, apache, app server, mail server, proxy, firewall altogether with lots of clients on weak server.
And, I can assure you, its not an install issue. You'll have problems with other OSes as well, just different ones. Maybe it will be easier to install with Ubuntu but maintain? I don't know.

Just a thought.

depontius · Advocate Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 3509

I've been running a number of systems on Gentoo for a number of years, including the one my daughter will take away to college next Fall. She uses a computer well, even Linux, but is not really "administratively literate." At the moment, I don't think she could keep the system properly maintained, herself. To be fair, several times a year updates have been incurring Blocks, and at least as often as that, there are config file changes that would be fatal if not properly handled. Gentoo is great in the hands of someone with a little understanding, but IMHO it's not ready for use without a semi-expert maintainer somewhere in the wings.

Can anyone suggest a better way of keeping Gentoo maintained, that can be handled by an ordinary user?
How about an alternative - she's been using xfce for several years, now.
Clearly it's not Vista, though that may put pressure on to get XP before the supply dries up, if that's what it takes.
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cweiske · n00b Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 42

MM23 · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 83

I think one huge thing about Gentoo people tend to overlook, more than even portage, I absolutely LOVE how all of the important config files are in /etc/conf.d/. You can even add your own kernel modules for bootup just by editing one little file! Really random, but try running Ubuntu and looking for config files... they're all over the place, and some of the ones Gentoo has don't even exist because the Ubuntu devs apparently think everyone is a complete noob and should be shielded from everything. Too much of a WinXP approach for me, I don't like it.

Also, yeah, as a server, I'd rather run Gentoo than anything else. Lighttpd + PHP takes about 3 minutes to compile on my AMD machine. It would probably take less than 45 even on a slow P3 or something. As a desktop, I have some mixed feelings, but I still run Gentoo personally... though I really don't recommend it to anyone new to Linux. It can cause a lot of headache. Then again, I use testing, so I guess that's part of the deal for getting the latest and greatest.

thechris · Veteran Joined: 12 Oct 2003 Posts: 1203

I usually end up back at gentoo because i know how to use it, and the packages I use are in portage, and usually work.

portage, on the whole, has the useful package selection, and rc-update system going for it.

other then that, I fear updates because they tend to break my system. the USE flag system is becoming unmanageable, especially with packages failing due to a dependency missing a required USE flag! It seems sometimes this goes unnoticed and you have to wait for the program to remind you that package X needs support for Y.
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vinboy · n00b Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 69

i keep coming back because things just work!

I have Kubuntu but things don't always work out and too lazy to fix it. And randomly very unexpected thing happen.
I like Kubuntu because it only takes like 10seconds to fetch updates, in Gentoo it takes maybe 5minutes to do the --sync, just to see if there is any updates available. :oops:

installation of packages is fast and easy in Kubuntu.

BUT
Gentoo seems to just work most of the time.
the maintenance cost is high though.

unmask this, unmask that once awhile during upgrade of certain package.

i have my package.keywords very very messy, any idea how to clean it abit?

would be really really nice to have a binary distribution of Gentoo, it should be too hard to make, right?

depontius · Advocate Joined: 05 May 2004 Posts: 3509