some thoughts before installing Gentoo

[mp3elv5]

Hi guys, i came back to gentoo after a couple years cos to be honest the whole compiling thing turned me off big time, i decided to give it another go after watching some good reviews about the 2006 and the live cd but now im a bit mmm i dunno how to say, maybe disappointed is a bit too harsh, but this is the thing, i tried the Live CD in a Dell Optiplex GX150 (p III 1.1Ghz i815 mobo with integrated video) and it doesnt work ,the GDM crashes mightily some seconds after starting graphic mode, and thats all about it, also i've been thinking, is it still required to recompile for thousand of hours to get some packages done as if it was in the past with emerge?, cos to be honest this p III doesnt have that big of a punch and letting it running for 20 or 30 hours kind of give me the creeps, anyone knows if the binaries are available to download for those who dont have a powerful computer to recompile all and everything all the time?, i would really hope ur sincere suggestions, should i still keep trying hard on this, or it would be better to just stir away and choose another linux distribution, i wonder if i had to install 10 or 12 stations with gentoo if i had to recompile everything in everyone of them, sigh.

thanks and sorry for the rant!

mp3elv #5

[tubs]

Sounds like you might be better off with another distro. Gentoo's package management system is based around the idea that users can easily customise their software, which is why I love it. However, some of the bigger packages do come with binaries, like openoffice and mozilla firefox. As these aps spend most of their runtime waiting for user input, any optimisations generally go unnoticed.

If you have 10-12 machines, try using distcc to help compile times. It is also possible to build a package (or indeed an entire system) on one machine, which can then be put on other machines without having to compile it again.

As for the livecd, try disabling X during install. It may not look as pretty, but you only have to put up with it during install.

I recommend doing some more reading on what gentoo has to offer and why its users like to be able to build their packages as they please. If you are still not impressed, or still not interested in waiting for software to compile, try another distro, I recommend debian, but whatever you do, steer clear of redhat.

[mp3elv5]

i like the sleek way that gentoo works but i wonder if it is possible to use in a massive way, u know, why not Redhat? , and also how do i bypass the X server, also is it possible to install it in a virtual partition in VMware and somehow clone it over the net to a client?

Mp3elv #5

[tubs]