Arch to gentoo

[PurposeOfReason]

I started out with Ubuntu a year ago, moved to Arch three months ago, and am now thinking about gentoo. Of course, there is the reputation of gentoo being "hard, difficult, and long to install". This was also around arch, but not as much. So really, can someone give me a basic walkthrough (not just a link to the handbook) on what it would take to install? From what I get, you have to compile everything though it makes it faster. Besides that, are there any real benefits? This would be on a laptop if that matters.

[Bachstelze]

It's obvious that the fact that you need to compile everything makes it longer. However, the performance gain you get is not the main benefit IMO. The thing I like most about Gentoo is that, since everything is built from source, it lets you compile your software with only the options you need, letting out the rest. This resuls in smaller programs, and therefore smaller disk and memory usage than in binary distributions like Ubuntu or Arch where programs are compiled with pretty much every available option.

As for what it takes, a lot of patience, obviously, and also not being afraid of the command-line and manual editing of config files. Even though the documentation and the community are very helpful and can explain in detail what you need to type, you'll still have to type it ;)

[PurposeOfReason]

Is there any real place to start reading for a vague understanding or would it be best to just dive in. I have an older laptop sitting around that can be sacrificed.

[Crooksey]

On my laptop, a default arch install, was faster than a custom gentoo install.

'nuff said.

Unless you are developing, then it really isnt woth it.

[Bachstelze]

On my laptop, a default arch install, was faster than a custom gentoo install.

'nuff said.

Unless you are developing, then it really isnt woth it.

May I suggest you've been doing it wrong?

[Crooksey]

You could do, but Im sure I wasnt.