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butters
Guru
Joined: 13 May 2002
Posts: 427
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
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 Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 3:33 pm Post subject: Slackware sucks |
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Now that I run Gentoo on my main machine, I can't accept installing my usual Slackware on an old P100/64MB system. I never noticed how much it sucked until I started using Gentoo.
I think that work needs to be done to create a binary distro based on a binary-oriented Portage system that can install from a floppy with optimizations for architectures slightly older than i686. A lot of us Gentoo folk have old machines on the same broadband connection as our newer machines and would like a version of Gentoo geared toward these ends.
What do you think?
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rommel
Veteran
Joined: 19 Apr 2002
Posts: 1145
Location: Williamsburg Virginia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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| thats a lil harsh , but i would agree that after gentoo really all the other canned distrobutions are pretty much blah. |
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rac
Bodhisattva
Joined: 30 May 2002
Posts: 6553
Location: Japanifornia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: Slackware sucks |
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| butters wrote: | | I think that work needs to be done to create a binary distro based on a binary-oriented Portage system that can install from a floppy with optimizations for architectures slightly older than i686. |
This sentence manages to contain three possible flamewar sources, which is quite a good show:- distribute binaries
- boot from floppy
- support old machines
The Gentoo developers have priorities, and the consensus (as I see it) is that these are not very high on the list. Perhaps the Alternative Installation Guide will give you some ideas for how to work on your older machine.
| Quote: | | A lot of us Gentoo folk have old machines on the same broadband connection as our newer machines and would like a version of Gentoo geared toward these ends. |
You already have Linux installed on the machine in question, so you're in a similar position to mine. What I did was to put a new hard disk in the old machines (a 133MHz P133 and a 200MHz K6), and do the bootstrap and core installation chrooted from inside my working Linux setup. That way I was able to minimize downtime because Linux was running during the entire installation process, and the machines were still usable. Then switch over when everything is working the way you like it.
If you're impatient, there is another option. You can cross-install using your fast machine to compile all the packages. Install the target hard disk in your fast machine, chroot to it, set CFLAGS appropriately for your slow machine, and let that run in the background. As long as your fast machine can run the binaries for your old machine, this method should work, and with less compiling time.
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pjp
Administrator
Joined: 16 Apr 2002
Posts: 20067
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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I was under the impression the Gentoo CDs allowed installations on 486's? That is certainly older than a 686.
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masseya
Bodhisattva
Joined: 17 Apr 2002
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Location: Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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Daniel Robbins talks about the possibilty of distributing binaries in an article that was posted by mksoft here. I think it would be nice so long as source based programs are availible via portage by default.
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butters
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Joined: 13 May 2002
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Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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I guess the real issue is that I can't boot from CDROM on the old machine. Assuming the system will manage to successfully build, I really don't care quite how long it takes.
Is there an easy way to make and/or use a boot floppy that will have everything I need to load the tulip module, configure networking with DHCP, and write the filesystems out (i.e. get up to the part in the install where you mount the Gentoo CD)? Can I do this with the Slack boot and root floppies?
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phong
Bodhisattva
Joined: 16 Jul 2002
Posts: 778
Location: Michigan - 15 & Ryan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| butters wrote: | | Is there an easy way to make and/or use a boot floppy that will have everything I need to load the tulip module, configure networking with DHCP, and write the filesystems out (i.e. get up to the part in the install where you mount the Gentoo CD)? Can I do this with the Slack boot and root floppies? |
Yes (sorta) and probably yes. Check out my Installation from a boot floppy HOWTO. That example uses tomsrtbt, but you could probably use boot/root disks from other distributions for the same effect (assuming they had all the tools you need to get up and running). |
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rac
Bodhisattva
Joined: 30 May 2002
Posts: 6553
Location: Japanifornia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| butters wrote: | | I guess the real issue is that I can't boot from CDROM on the old machine. |
You might want to give this a spin.
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butters
Guru
Joined: 13 May 2002
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Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks guys, that HOWTO basically covers it. (And I thought I was gunna have to try my hand at FreeBSD!!)
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True
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 10 Apr 2002
Posts: 125
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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And how long will it before you start the thread 'Gentoo sucks' when the next big thing comes along? If you knew the first thing about how Slackware is developed you wouldn't be so quick to diss' the distro. They were one of the first and still one of the purest distros! (Even if Gentoo does do it better ;-p)
Sorry, I just loathe these kind of posts.. |
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mezz
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 01 Jun 2002
Posts: 111
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2002 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| butters wrote: | | Thanks guys, that HOWTO basically covers it. (And I thought I was gunna have to try my hand at FreeBSD!!) |
Be sure to try both Gentoo Linux and FreeBSD.. I haven't touch Gentoo Linux, so I can't give the comment on it. FreeBSD is great, you will love it.. :) |
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Sivar
Apprentice
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 266
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2002 12:26 am Post subject: |
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I don't want to start a debate, but having switxhed from FreeBSD myself, I can tell you that you will love Gentoo (or probably will). Gentoo is like a FreeBSD system that
1) You can actually compile with reasonably optimizations (sorry, but "-O -pipe" sucks)
2) Has a ports system that works. I don't know how many times a port has refused to compile properly or at all, even major ports like Xfree86 4
3) Allows you to update the kernel (Linux) without recompiling the whole <beep> operating system.
I still use FreeBSD for my server as well, because Gentoo's culture is "Latest, greatest, most cutting edge" which is just not bright for use in a server environment, but desktop FreeBSD is a lesson in patience.
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klieber
Bodhisattva
Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 3657
Location: San Francisco, CA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2002 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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moving to gentoo suggestions. locking thread since this has already been discussed extensively before.
--kurt
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