Loving Sabayon!

[ThinkBuntu]

Well, I don't love the install. The DVD 3.3 Installer repeatedly returned errors during installation for a time, and the first time I got it through my system was so sluggish you would've thought I was using a Pentium II. Anyway, I finally got it installed and running properly, and it's incredible! This is the gold standard for plug-n-play/"just works" operating systems.

From the install, first of all, I already have every application I would download, which means I'm productive right away. I have yet to use emerge, but I might now (expect for updating applications and security updates) because the current configuration is superb. I did, of course, change the default theme over to a blue KDE default. Not a big fan of the burgendy and black! Anyway, here's what I've noticed:
* At first, everything was slow. But with every application launch, reboot, or any other action, I notice a speed improvement. Almost as though it's acquanting itself with my system. Sorta odd, but as long as it's going fast, I could care less.
* Fonts are beautiful. They render perfectly, smoothly, and are very readable still.
* Wireless is superb. Who knows why, but I can see about twice as many signals (as well as hop on twice as many open networks in my range) as I ever could with Ubuntu, PCLOS, Mint, etc. Wireless is now on par with my MacBook, and that's a big deal compared to former performance.
* DVDs! I read a review somewhere that Mandrive had the only DVD codec. Well, maybe they have the only legal one, but this one works excellently. I tried the AUD-DVD codecs with Automatix in Ubuntu, and it never worked as expected.
* Everything else I expect to work or usually have to configure is there for me. Audio codecs, iPod support, I mean everything. Not to mention that common actions are gradually getting "snappier" than they've ever been with other distros. Namely, Suspend to RAM, waking from suspend, mounting external media, etc.

Amazing! I'm Italian, so of course I expected an Italian would come up with the best Linux OS :^)

[Pobega]

Sabayon's nice, yes, but in my opinion it's not worth using for anything more than a LiveCD. Why don't you try doing a normal Gentoo install, I'm sure it would be a lot faster than a generic i386 source distribution?

Also, I've heard some tales about Sabayon's portage not agreeing with updates, or something along those lines. I'd be wary when upgrading packages if I were you.

[ThinkBuntu]

I have neither the time nor the dedication to get Gentoo running "just right." It seems pretty neat, but at this point I'm pleased with Sabayon.

[ronocdh]

Originally Posted by ThinkBuntu I have neither the time nor the dedication to get Gentoo running "just right." It seems pretty neat, but at this point I'm pleased with Sabayon.

I like your icon. I just grabbed the i386 ISo of Sabayon last night, for use on my tower; I was planning to install it today, but I really have some work that should get done... but maybe I'll pretend to keep working on the laptop while the Sabayon install runs. I'll post back with my thoughts here.

[ThinkBuntu]

I'm really amazed by how this is working out. I'm used to Windows, Zenwalk, even Ubuntu getting incrementally slower with every boot, especially after changes have been made to the preinstalled "optimal" settings. With Sabayon, every action I take is executed quicker than the previous time. Boots just keep improving, OpenOffice is as fast as I've had it anywhere except Zenwalk, and KDE launches as quickly as it ever did in Arch.

I've ordered a DVD of this version from OSDisc. I'll be recommending this, not Ubuntu, to people coming to Linux with modern computers. I'm taking the more monolitihic version point of view until I understand Gentoo upgrades thoroughly, as I don't want to mess up my system any time soon. If everything works, and every tool I could want (except for some spare stuff I might build from source like Cinellara) came installed, why fiddle? But in the long run, I really want to use this to see some of Gentoo's potential without its infamous hassle.

[FuturePilot]

I've given Sabayon another chance again. This is probably the fourth time I've installed it. I'm not sure why I gave up on it before. But I'm really going to give it a good chance this time. So far I'm very impressed. I've always wanted to try Gentoo but it always seemed so complicated and time consuming. KDE starts a lot faster than it did on Kubuntu. So far so good. I'll really know how I like it in a few more days.

[RAV TUX]

Originally Posted by FuturePilot I've given Sabayon another chance again. This is probably the fourth time I've installed it. I'm not sure why I gave up on it before. But I'm really going to give it a good chance this time. So far I'm very impressed. I've always wanted to try Gentoo but it always seemed so complicated and time consuming. KDE starts a lot faster than it did on Kubuntu. So far so good. I'll really know how I like it in a few more days.

OT: cool avatar.

z

[mr32123]

I completely agree. Sabayon Linux was the easiest Linux OS that I ever came across. Sure it has some quirks that it needs to work out, but from what I see a lot less than any other OS I've tried.

I have a tip for all you planning on installing Sabayon though. Installing Sabayon parallel to Windows XP destroyed performance. The install was so unbelievably slow I almost gave up. However when I swapped out my HD to install it as the lone OS the install went through much quicker and it just seemed to rnso much better than before in a dual boot.

Now for the specifics:
P4 2.26GHz
1.25Gb DDR-SDRAM
20gig primary
200gig slave
19" widescreen
AND - the best part of all my 4.1 Boston Acoustics - they just don't make them like they used to...

[ThinkBuntu]

Originally Posted by mr32123 I completely agree. Sabayon Linux was the easiest Linux OS that I ever came across. Sure it has some quirks that it needs to work out, but from what I see a lot less than any other OS I've tried. I have a tip for all you planning on installing Sabayon though. Installing Sabayon parallel to Windows XP destroyed performance. The install was so unbelievably slow I almost gave up. However when I swapped out my HD to install it as the lone OS the install went through much quicker and it just seemed to rnso much better than before in a dual boot. Now for the specifics: P4 2.26GHz 1.25Gb DDR-SDRAM 20gig primary 200gig slave 19" widescreen AND - the best part of all my 4.1 Boston Acoustics - they just don't make them like they used to...

Me? Windows? The only computer I've ever owned with Windows on it was this ThinkPad, and it was wiped the day I bought it used.

[FuturePilot]

Originally Posted by RAV TUX OT: cool avatar. z

Thanks RAV TUX It reminds me of the one in the title of this post. Lol

Sabayon keeps freezing up on me grrr It's such a nice distro, I'd hate to leave it.