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View Full Version : What do you all think of Gentoo??



Kernel Sanders
April 25th, 2006, 12:07 AM
I'm asking because i'm in the process of downloading its live cd at the moment to have a look.....

As a Linux noob, the internal workings/features of Gentoo compared to other distros is still a mystery to me, so I would be very interested to get all your, obviously more enlightened perspective :)

John :)

BWF89
April 25th, 2006, 12:10 AM
Gentoo is a high preformance car that requires constant tweaking and fiddleing. But runs better than anything else.

Ubuntu is like Hitler's Voltzwagon in the 40's. A car for the masses. (minus the evil)

KiwiNZ
April 25th, 2006, 12:11 AM
Gentoo is a very good distro.When you install it compiles for your hardware. But my personal view of Gentoo... It takes way to long to install and needs way too much work. But thats just me.

But if you really want to learn how Linux works and really get your hands dirty then Gentoo will do this.

BWF89
April 25th, 2006, 12:12 AM
I thought Slackware was the distro that you used to learn Linux?

"Learn RedHat and all you know is RedHat, learn Slackware and you know Linux"

William the Conquerer
April 25th, 2006, 12:16 AM
well... honestly gentoo is not for fresh linux users. You are required to have alot of very general knowledge of linux overall including what kinds of packages do what and what packages you will need for your system to be how you want it... this includes everything down to the windows manager and desktop environment and X server... as in it doesn't come with one by default. I would say if you are going to use gentoo for the first time as even a fairly new linux user use it on a desktop or any computer that is NOT your main computer. You can google around and fix problems to learn more linux internals on your main computer and figure out cool stuff and of course leave it compiling on that secondary computer. Otherwise just keep using Ubuntu, but most importantly be proactive to learn about how your system works. My favorite thing about linux is that since I've been using it over 5 years now I'm able to pinpoint exactly what programs are using what resources and the ins and outs that ******* doesn't even come close to provide.

ssam
April 25th, 2006, 12:24 AM
its like linux from scratch but with a very good package manager. i think its good for when you need to do heavy customising, or need something one of the other distros can't do. its probably quite good for programers because it puts all the source code in front of you.

i tried to use it for a via epia mini itx juke box. its good because i can turn off things i don't need and compile everything optimised with -Os (to make the binaries smaller). the trouble is that some of the packages are very out of date.

nalmeth
April 25th, 2006, 12:35 AM
Gentoo is not for the newer linux user...
Gentoo is a pretty hardcore distro, where you end up with linux configured and setup for your hardware. It takes a lot of work to get it off the ground (days and days sometimes to install, because you're compiling everything from source), but I suppose that when it's going, and when you understand the basics of using it, you might find it quite nice.
Think about it only if you're ready to jump in a major mud-bog, and get real dirty :)
The gentoo forums are supposed to be really good though.

gingermark
April 25th, 2006, 12:44 AM
Ubuntu is like Hitler's Voltzwagon in the 40's. A car for the masses. (minus the evil)
Screw "Linux for Human Beings". THIS should be the new Ubuntu slogan :)

"Linux for the masses - minus the evil"
Has a cetain ring to it, doesn't it? :)

super
April 25th, 2006, 01:00 AM
gentoo is a pretty good distribution. i had a pretty good time with it when i used it. i found the package manager to be awesome. and the forums are amazing since a large portion of it's users are linux gurus.

that said, i prefer ubuntu. the whole 'its faster because i compiled it from scratch' argument is pretty much moot on modern hardware. the difference in speed is negligible and will probably be completely un-noticed. and when it takes 4 hours to install gnome you'll be wishing for some binary packages.

gentoo is for people who use linux/computers as a hobby. which is exactly what some people want (especially the above mentioned linux gurus!)

BWF89
April 25th, 2006, 02:00 AM
Screw "Linux for Human Beings". THIS should be the new Ubuntu slogan :)

"Linux for the masses - minus the evil"
Has a cetain ring to it, doesn't it? :)
I know, "Linux for Human Beings :confused:". As opposed to what, Linux for Pygmy Marmosets?

benplaut
April 25th, 2006, 02:12 AM
I know, "Linux for Human Beings :confused:". As opposed to what, Linux for Pygmy Marmosets?

considering that the majority of distros are made for pygmy marmosets, it's a very descriptive tagline~

:-k

<edit>

that makes an awesome sig :D

GreyFox503
April 25th, 2006, 05:31 AM
Before, I had to spend a lot of time reading their installation guide, and it took me a full Saturday to install, command-line only. Their definition of a complete Gentoo system did not include X windows. :)

Now, I think the liveCD not only has a DE, but includes a graphical installer?!?!? Pshh, too easy.

Haven't used the new graphical one, but have fun! If you start from stage one and/or use all source packages, it will take a long time to finish the install. (For me, base system + X windows + Gnome + OpenOffice = 22 hours).

Once you got it installed, it runs nicely. Updating just takes a while, though.

Sushi
April 25th, 2006, 07:09 AM
Gentoo is a top-notch distro. It really does kick ***. That said, it's not for everyone (but neither is Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora or some other distro for that matter).

Gentoo is pretty interesting really. On the one hand, it's great for experienced Linux-users who are not afraid to get their hands dirty in order to have a system that fits their needs perfectly. On the other hands, it's great for newbies who want to dive head-first in to Linux.

htinn
April 25th, 2006, 07:15 AM
I have the Gentoo 2006.0 Live CD, and it works great. Only ran into a couple of issues:

1) Had to change "vesa" driver to "nv" by hand to get the xdm to work.
2) Live CD installer doesn't seem to work (segfaults, to be specific) unless you have a working internet connection (which I have yet to figure out how to get working from the Live CD).

GreyFox503
April 25th, 2006, 07:48 AM
htinn reminded me: Don't even think about installing Gentoo without a broadband connection, unless you are willing to wait that much longer. It seems to be much more dependent on net access than, say, Ubuntu is.

WildTangent
April 25th, 2006, 01:02 PM
Tried it a few times. It was the second distro I ever tried. A friend bet me $5 I couldn't install it, so I proved him wrong, but it was definately not the easiest $5 I ever made. Compiling of KDE (I had never tried KDE at this point) and installing of the rest of the system took a total of 27 hours.

-Wild

der_joachim
April 25th, 2006, 06:04 PM
If i were to be put in a linux user category, I would be a tinkerer. Gentoo would be ideal for me. However, I did have to tinker a bit *too* much to get a working system, so I reinstalled Debian (it was in my pre-Ubuntu days :) ).