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hate29
n00b
Joined: 01 Mar 2015
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 3:38 pm Post subject: Questions before installing gentoo |
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Hi,
I'm new to this forum and quite new to Gentoo (installed couple of times). Now I'm "coming back" but wonder if Gentoo really the thing that I'm looking for. I've read little here and there about Gentoo and it had left me some unanswered questions.
Stability with updates
Is this a problem or not? I understood that updating is not a problem if you update freaquently enough, say every week or every month. But what about big updates like GCC?
Does it really take more time to fix Gentoo than getting my work done? I For my experience this wasn't so hard but rumours say otherwise.
Games
Once in a while I play (mostly on steam, something on wine). This shouldn't be a problem? My gaming is really casual so this is not a big deal.
Newbie things
Actually how I keep my system up-to-date? I've read the handbook and googled something but it seems that different users use different ways. Is there a proper way?
Is there something else what a newbie with Gentoo should know? I can install it and run it but keeping it up is still something I'm trying to learn.
All in all I think Gentoo can be a powerful OS once installed and running. My main concern is that can I run it say 3-5 years from now without wiping my disk and doing a fresh install?
Thanks to everyone in advance! |
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NeddySeagoon
Administrator
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 54220
Location: 56N 3W
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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hate29,
Welcome to Gentoo.
Stability with updates is not a problem with monthly updates. For periods longer that a year, updates can provide an educational experence. It depends what changed.
For gcc | wiki.gentoo.org wrote: | | So why is this only needed up to GCC 3.4.0/4.1? That's because from that version onwards, GCC uses a forward compatible ABI, which removes the need for rebuilding applications and libraries. Of course, guarantees can never be given indefinitely, but when an incompatibility occurs again, we'll definitely document it here. In that case, the version of the libstdc++.so library will probably be increased. |
If you are using a gcc older than 4.8, your gentoo is several years out of date, or you know what you are doing.
Newbie things.
I update with | Code: | emerge --sync
emerge -uDNav @system
emerge -uDNav @world
<follow the on screen instructions>
etc-update
eselect news list
<read and obey news items>
emerge -p --depclean |
The last command only shows what wourd be done - you need to review the list before you actually do it.
etc-update can be dangerous - blindly accepting all the changes is a very bad thing to do.
Homework ... what do all those emerge options do?
Thats only partly tounge in cheek - you need to understand basics like that. is your friend.
_________________
Regards,
NeddySeagoon
Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail. |
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Fitzcarraldo
Advocate
Joined: 30 Aug 2008
Posts: 2034
Location: United Kingdom
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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I've been using Gentoo ~amd64 (64-bit testing branch) for five years on the same laptop, which is the laptop I use for all my work (including administrative stuff), and most of my leisure browsing, shopping,. etc. I use KDE and, because I work in multiple offices in different countries, have around 22 different models of printer and 3 different models of scanner configured (some connected via USB but most connected on wired and wireless networks). Apart from various native Linux applications, I use various Windows applications under WINE for work, such as Visio, Microsoft Office 2007, and that sort of thing. I often transfer files (work and personal) to/from my Android smartphone, and use Bluetooth or KDE Connect or USB (MTPfs) or Dropbox.
Stability with updates has not been a problem. Big updates such as GCC have not been a problem either (I've upgraded GCC a few times in this installation). It has not taken me more time to fix Gentoo than to get work done. Things like udev can be a pain in the neck when the freedesktop.org people decide to make yet another radical change to functionality, but that's nothing to do with Gentoo per se, and Gentoo can be configured accordingly (these forums are a big help).
I virtually never play computer games, so I can't comment on that side of things. Chess, draughts, GBoggle, Mahjongg Solitaire, Pac-Mania (via NAMCO emulator) and TORCS are about the extent of my infrequent gaming.
Keeping my installation up to date is as straightforward as:
| Code: | emaint sync -a
layman -S
emerge -uvpDN world |
to see what needs to be updated and to check if there are any blockers that need to be resolved first, then the following to actually update:
| Code: | emerge -uvDN --keep-going world
eix-update |
I do this every couple of weeks. Sometimes more frequently, sometimes less frequently if I'm on a business trip.
As I wrote, I've been using Gentoo on this laptop for five years, and will continue using it and updating it. There is absolutely no need for a fresh install. And you'll find people in these forums who've been using the same installation for much longer than that.
_________________
Clevo W230SS: amd64, VIDEO_CARDS="intel modesetting nvidia".
Compal NBLB2: ~amd64, xf86-video-ati. Dual boot Win 7 Pro 64-bit.
OpenRC udev elogind & KDE on both.
Fitzcarraldo's blog |
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