whats to cool about gentoo?

[particleman14]

so i did the whole install thing and now i have a very basic system running fluxbox, but simple tasks that i used to do such as execute an .exe file back in windows
it seems like it's 5X harder to do the same in gentoo!

i dont understand i was under the impressions gentoo was cooler than this.
I knew it would be a lil tough, but like simples tasks are huge amounts of work will it ever get better for me!?

[digicosm]

Running a source-based distribution like Gentoo is quite different than running a binary-based OS like Windows. Sure, installing things takes longer. But you have the confidence that things are tuned for your system, worms and virii aren't buried in the EXEs, and life is generally better

[particleman14]

ya but like gentoo is cool and all, but it seems like unecesary for it to be so difficult to install and do everyday things.

[BitJam]

[particleman14]

for example i d/led a IRC script into my home directory

using rox i click on the .exe file and i get an error message saying access denies or something
and i try other ways to open it like in BASH but it still wont work
in windows i dbl clicked
and blam i had a nice IRC script

[beejay]

Gentoo is work - always. It can also be a lot of work - depending on what you want to do. You should have known that. You have to read a lot of Documentations, you have to compile nearly everything from scratch. Will it get better? - Yes. Once you have installed the basic kits it is likely possible that they will run forever. However if you are on a real bleeding edge system (i.e. ~x86) Gentoo can sometimes slap your face (but every other distro could do that, too). Positive is the effect of learning with Gentoo. I personally never experienced such an increase in that. Although I already had a lot of Linux-Experience before using Gentoo I can say that I started from the beginning again.

Using Gentoo is fun for me - I like the flexibility and the way to administrate it. There is no major configuration tool that kills your hand-made configs.

It might be possible that you will never really get into Gentoo. That's ok. Some people just want their things working withoud fiddling around in the configs. If you think you are such a person, then use Debian, Mandrake or whatever.
_________________
Dort wo schwarzer Rauch aufsteigt, sich alsbald ein Fehler zeigt.
www.paludis-sucks.org | www.gentoo.de | www.gentoo-ev.org | www.gentoo.org

[beejay]

[particleman14]

well the main reason i chose gentoo was for learning and i've learned a whole buttload, but ya i like the idea of custom configuring all my sutff, but sometimes just not all of it.. cause for a user like me i dont need that big extra flexibility, like some parts of gentoo are overkill for me...

good experience but gentoo might not be for me..

if maybe windows had portage then that'd be my kinda thing:)

[particleman14]

oh i know i'm super noob to linux but thats y i chose gentoo so i could challenege myself and i like the challenge but some parts of it are really hard for me and very discourageing when i put in 2 hours of work and fiddling and still get nothing

[hook]

it'd be a great idea if you'd get yourself a noobie book on linux ...because it's VERY different from win* ...not only the .exe bit ...you'll learn, don't worry, we all did

and, i hope you'll enjoy your stay with gentoo (or at least linux)
_________________
tea+free software+law=hook

(deep inside i'm still a tux's little helper)

[EzInKy]

Gentoo is "cool" for many reasons, including but not limited to learning to build and use a linux from the ground up and optimizing your programs for your system by choosing their dependencies yourself with as little hand holding as possible. Just these two reasons alone make it almost "the" optimal linux development system.

[particleman14]

also i find that using gentoo everyday things like surfin the net seem a whole lot slower than what i'm used to it takes like 15 secs to load my mozilla is that normal? did i do something wrong?

[Clete2]

[gsfgf]

[Clete2]

[pytigger]

You should try "emerge kde" or "emerge gentoo", following the desktop setup guide. Using these Desktop environments are lot more effective for the user (not for the computer of course). There are visual filemanagers, help files, games and other tools for these environments.
If this is no better for you, than you really should try Red Hat or Suse. The latter is really easy to install and setup, but you probably have to pay to get installation CDs and manuals. RH can be installed by CD.

For IRC you should check out Mozilla's IRC client and X Chat, though I don't like the Mozilla one. There's K IRC too, and GAIM, which can access AIM, ICQ and IRC simultaneously. I don't know whether they support scripting. But Linux proves and excellent platform for IRC bots!

The sole fact that you installed Gentoo with X Windows proves you are a relatively smart guy. Now just don't scare away just because it get's harder sometimes. Often enough the learning curve is very steep. Just have trust in yourself and keep on going. You will certainly earn the rewards of your struggles: stability, performance and security, besides all the free software and programming environments.
But not if you give up now!
_________________
And by the way - Gentoo needs an official WIKI!!

[ebrostig]

Most likely the IRC scripts that you donwloaded was for mIRC and can not be used in a Linux IRC program (without serious modifications I would assume).

The first thing you need to do is to leave your Windows world (i.e everything you have learned about how things are done under Windows and inside Windows programs) and start building your Linux knowledge. It is a different world, things are done differently, scripts used in Windows programs will not work.

If you want things to work as in Windows, use Windows. If you want to learn how Linux does things, you have to get the fundamental knowledge of Linux and how it works and what is different from Windows.

Jumping into Linux and esp. Gentoo without such a knowledge will only give you a frustrating experience. As another poster said, find some good bokks about Linux, read all you can on the web and try to understand what is different between Windows and Linux. When you do, you are ready.

Erik
_________________
'Yes, Firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'

[EzInKy]

<I>Jumping into Linux and esp. Gentoo without such a knowledge will only give you a frustrating experience. As another poster said, find some good bokks about Linux, read all you can on the web and try to understand what is different between Windows and Linux.</I>

I think the original poster is expecting to be considered "cool" because he is able to hand his hand held, not because he is smart enough to figure things out for himself.

[Nermal]

[TenPin]

I started out using Redhat linux about 2 years ago. I think it was a very good way to start because installing RH7.1 was a breeze and it sets up alot of stuff for you. Nowadays RH9 is even more user friendly and will ease you into using Linux.

After using RH for about 8 months I learned enough of the underlying intricacies of linux to try Gentoo. I also learned that RedHat gives you a pathetic package management system (rpm) and is nowhere near as flexible as Gentoo for dynamic use. (Redhat works well in a corporate environment.)

The trick is to remember that if it doesn't work its only because you don't know what you're doing, not because its broken ;) The solution is to read, faff, read, faff, ask, faff some more... until it works. Yes this can take up an awful lot of time but you learn a heck of alot and if you don't have the time then you have no business complaining... go use Redhat or *gasp* windows.

[The Mountain Man]

[semiSfear]

If you think Gentoo is though, then hey! Just think of the name "Gentoo", it's the coolest *nix distro name out there

Just to enlighten you if you don't know what I'm talking about. Gentoo is the name of a penguin family (just like king penguin). Nice ah... Get it... Gentoo = penguin = Tux = Linux Sure beats the hell out of Red Hat.

No seriously. Changing OS. Specially to linux from Windows is hard. It's like changing transportation, to a helicopter from a car. You have to be interested and read a lot of docs mans. But the best thing with the Gentoo distro is this forum. It has helped me 90% of the times when I didn't know what the hell to do.
_________________
DnB is my religion, Jungle is my church.

[Kesereti]

[EzInKy]

[progster]