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jonathan
n00b
Joined: 01 Jun 2002
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:11 am Post subject: Gentoo VS Debian |
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Ive decided finally to get rid of my messy windows desktop and replace it with a distribution of linux (i already have a gentoo box and debian box running as servers)
But im tied between the two, and just cant decide which to go for, for desktop usage.
Could anyone please point out the advantages of gentoo in a desktop enviroment, and the advantages of emerge over apt-get.
Thanks in advance. |
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lx
Veteran
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 1012
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:22 am Post subject: |
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The big difference is source against binaries. Debian is better tested (good for servers), but it is therefore somewhat outdated, although woody compensateds this fact, but this is less stable that 2.2 releases. My gentoo dekstop runs fine, but well debian did also. Don't know if the package for Xfree 4.2 is made, but it was a major pain for many people wanting to run debian. If you don't have a fast computer / don't want to compile every package then I recommend debian, it's great. But if you want the latest packages and compile everything to your needs then use Gentoo, never crashed on me,..............yet............................still didn't crash,.........
O, diskspace is also a major player, gentoo installs all everything including dev-libs so it get blooted.
Cya lX.
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jtanner
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 23 May 2002
Posts: 121
Location: Atlanta, GA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 3:28 am Post subject: |
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I'm using gentoo on my work desktop and debian on my home desktop. Debian is rock-solid. Never had a package break/fail to install/etc. Everything Just Works(tm). That said, even if you're tracking unstable, you'll miss out on the latest & greatest. Debian still doesn't have kde3 debs, for example. I understand that XFree86 is another one that is slow to update.
With Gentoo, I've had a couple of small problems (XEmacs, rpm) which were quickly resolved either by scanning the forums/mailing lists or bugzilla. OTOH, the latest and greatest stuff usually arrives pretty quickly, and I haven't had any major problems. You do have to be fairly confident in Linux to use it, however.
All in all, I agree with lx: Gentoo for the desktop, Debian for the server.
Jim |
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klieber
Bodhisattva
Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 3657
Location: San Francisco, CA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| jtanner wrote: | | That said, even if you're tracking unstable, you'll miss out on the latest & greatest. |
That's not entirely accurate. Generally, Debian unstable is right on the bleeding edge. For larger packages, with XFree86 4.2 and KDE 3.0.x being prime examples, it does take a bit longer to get into unstable.
Now, the recent slowness of KDE 3.0.x and XFree86 4.2 was more because the developers were focusing most of their attention on getting Woody out the door, and thus didn't have time to devote to getting the latest and greatest into Sid.
In all fairness to Debian, it is an excellent distribution, both for servers and desktops. It gives you the choice between rock-solid stability and bleeding-edge. And, even the bleeding-edge version (Sid) is incredibly stable. Debian is a far more mature product than Gentoo is. Apt, dpkg and even dselect do far more things than emerge and the portage tree do now. This isn't a slam against Gentoo -- merely an acknowledgement that Gentoo is still a version 1.x product and a lot of things are still maturing. Debian is also (IMO) easier to administer, again, because it's been around longer.
Now, what Gentoo gives you is performance -- it lets you squeeze every last drop of performance out of your system by compiling everything from source, fully optimized for your system. It gives you more control over your system than Debian (or any other Distro short of LFS) does. It requires a lot more tuning and administering to get that performance, however, so there's definitely a price associated with it.
My $.02.
--kurt
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neuron
Advocate
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 2371
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| I switched my desktop box from debian to gentoo and I'm glad I did, though my server still runs debian. |
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mksoft
l33t
Joined: 28 May 2002
Posts: 844
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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| klieber wrote: | | Now, the recent slowness of KDE 3.0.x and XFree86 4.2 was more because the developers were focusing most of their attention on getting Woody out the door, and thus didn't have time to devote to getting the latest and greatest into Sid. |
KDE problems started after krusty resigned from maintaining kde packages. And they still can't get it out the door.
Package maintenance is the great thing about source distros. Creating and maintaining them is quite easy (compared to binary packages), and their turnaround rate is fast.
Like most posters on this thread I run Debian on servers and Gentoo on desktops.
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jtanner
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 23 May 2002
Posts: 121
Location: Atlanta, GA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| klieber wrote: |
Now, the recent slowness of KDE 3.0.x and XFree86 4.2 was more because the developers were focusing most of their attention on getting Woody out the door, and thus didn't have time to devote to getting the latest and greatest into Sid. |
True. I don't mean to disparage the debian developers--they do an excellent job, and nothing is released before it's time. I'm very happy with debian on my servers, and comfortable with it as a desktop as well. In fairness, mozilla 1.0 RCs were out for debian at the same time or slightly before they were there for gentoo....
| kleiber wrote: |
Now, what Gentoo gives you is performance -- it lets you squeeze every last drop of performance out of your system by compiling everything from source, fully optimized for your system. It gives you more control over your system than Debian (or any other Distro short of LFS) does. It requires a lot more tuning and administering to get that performance, however, so there's definitely a price associated with it. |
It's the latter point that finally converted me--I enjoy the level of control gentoo provides me, and that it doesn't dumb things down too much. The details are presented clearly and concisely. If you read the documentation, not only will everything go smoothly, but you'll also learn more about how things work.
Bottom line--gentoo is hassle-free without treating me like I should ride the short bus.
Jim |
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klieber
Bodhisattva
Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 3657
Location: San Francisco, CA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2002 6:05 pm Post subject: Oops |
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Folks -- I just made a moderator boo-boo and deleted a post by mistake. Someone (don't remember the user name) posted a reply to this thread asking if they should try debian. I meant to split that post out into its own thread in General Linux, but ended up deleting it by mistake.
So, if you're that person and trying to figure out where your post went, you have my apologies.  Please feel free to post it as a separate thread in General Linux. (Since it's not a Gentoo-related question, it probably shouldn't be in All Things Gentoo)
Finally, this thread is starting to stray OT -- I think there have been enough quality responses to the original question, so I'm going to lock this thread to prevent it from getting any more OT.
--kurt
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