A few Gentoo/general Linux questions from a n00b.

Jester

Hi all.

I've got a few general questions here about Gentoo. I've toyed with Linux for a while (tried Mandrake but hated the stupid cartoon interface, tried RedHat, but just wanted to try something a little more complex...), and I have a few questions before I try Gentoo.

1.) I noticed Gentoo doesn't come with the Linuxconf package. On the slightly older versions of RedHat that I've used (as well as Mandrake), Linuxconf was the coolest tool to me. But, on the newer versions of RedHat that I've been using, there IS NO Linuxconf. So, I'm wondering what you guys use to monitor service start-up configuration, configure user accounts, set up networking, etc. Do you just use shell commands and edit files, or is there some other mega-tool that Gentoo uses???

2.) Are the kernels Gentoo uses ALWAYS the "unstable", "bleeding-edge" kernels, or is the current 1.2 version just one that happens to have an unstable (unstable according to distrowatch.com) kernel?

3.) Would you use Gentoo as the OS for your webserver or firewall, or would you use something else entirely, like OpenBSD, FreeBSD, or NetBSD?

4.) What other more "true" *nixes do you guys recommend (Debian looks good, and the newest version--3.0--seems to be relatively up-to-date, but everybody keeps saying it's so far behind the times)?

5.) Any particular recommendations (like any certain distro or something) you guys have for dual-booting *nix and WinXP on a laptop?

Sorry for all the questions! Thanks, in advance!

Jester

Scandium

Jester · Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2002 7:29 pm Post subject: Thanks for the info...

Scandium:

Thanks for all the patient answers! Just to clarify...

1.) You said that you'd recommend *BSD in general over Linux (at least, that's how I took it that you said it)...why specifically would you recommend so? How come you're using Gentoo instead of BSD?

2.) How different are the shell commands in Linux vs. BSD?

3.) I'm seeing here on the forums that people are complaining about BSD being slow and unreliable. I've always heard that it's pretty darn reliable in general...what's the deal?

4.) Yeah, that last question I asked on my previous post doesn't make any sense to me either. It was late, and I was tired! Sorry about that!

5.) Man, the Gentoo community RAWKS!

Scandium · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:27 am Post subject: Re: Thanks for the info...

Jester · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 12:47 pm Post subject:

Hey, thanks again for all the answers...this'll be the last time I bug you on this one!

I've got a Dell laptop with a GeForce 440 GO in it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but XFree86 4.2 has GeForce 4 support built-in, so the only reason I'd need actual Nvidia drivers for BSD is if I wanted to run games with high resolutions and stuff like that, right? (Gentoo seems to be awesome, so I'm gonna run it on my laptop; I'm just curious about this one since you mentioned Nvidia drivers)

Okay, I'll leave you alone now... :wink:

Thanks again for all the answers!

Chris

Scandium · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 3:21 pm Post subject:

hm that's only partly true - the nvidia drivers have other advantages, too.

If I use the standard xfree driver the screen is wanky and I have to set the refresh rates manually etc. but if I use the nvidia drivers the screen looks much "smoother" and I don't have to care about the refresh rates etc. because everything is set to it's maximum value...

So if you have a nvidia card which is supported by the driver (I guess the GO ones are supported, too, but I don't know !) I'd use them

michaelb · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 5:00 pm Post subject:

For what it's worth, the website you are currently browsing is hosted on servers running Gentoo linux. Of course, as always, YMMV.

If security is your concern, however, I have to say that OpenBSD is hands down the most secure OS I have ever seen. Mind you, that's just one man's opinion. I use Gentoo for my desktop machine at home because I like the dynamic feel of it. It's growing and changing every day, and I think that's really cool.

Michael

Jester · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 2:06 am Post subject:

Thanks again for all the replies! I really appreciate you guys!

I guess whatever machine I can manage to scrounge up most likely won't have an Nvidia card, so I shouldn't be too worried about the driver issues. I'll definitely make sure I use them when I dual boot with WinXP (for games...and for my stupid MCSE upgrade training...yay). I was using them on my laptop before when I was running RedHat, but I still couldn't get a really good screen resolution, probably because I didn't configure something right...I couldn't get higher than 1024x768.

I'm just trying to learn the differences between BSD and Linux, so I guess the best way to do that would be to install both and see what they are!

From what I've read so far about Gentoo and OpenBSD, they're both a lot alike when it comes to security...I keep reading that the reason OpenBSD is so secure is because the default install doesn't have all the bloated extra software with it that you don't need, which sounds to me just like what I'm reading about Gentoo. So, it seems like they're about the same as far as security goes...well, unless the Linux kernel is inherently less secure than the BSD kernel...that'd be a different story, I guess.

Thanks again!

Chris

citizen428

1.)Do you just use shell commands and edit files,
Yes, as I still think it's the best way to administer *nix Operating System. The shell is always there, $TOOL maybe not some time.

2.) Are the kernels Gentoo uses ALWAYS the "unstable", "bleeding-edge" kernels, or is the current 1.2 version just one that happens to have an unstable (unstable according to distrowatch.com) kernel?
The Gentoo kernel works really good for me, but you always have the chance to emerge vanilla-soruces (the ones you get at kernel.org).

3.) Would you use Gentoo as the OS for your webserver or firewall
I not only would, I do

Main reason is I like desktop and server to have the same OS (Debian before I found Gentoo), though I don't have to follow different mailinglists, forums, security-alerts etc. Kind of lazy but it worked quite good so far

IMHO FreeBSD is a good choice too, have server at work and my gateway at home runs it.

HTH
Michael

Locke

Jester · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 12:39 pm Post subject: Man, you guys rock!

Great! Thanks again, you guys.

I started to install FreeBSD on my workstation (which I'm using as a server) last night, but I think it locked up, which is no biggie since I need the practice, anyway.

I ordered a copy of OpenBSD (too lazy to do an FTP install, plus my company will reimburse me for it, and it helps the project!), so I'll probably just install that, anyway. I'm DEFINITELY gonna install Gentoo on my laptop to dual-boot it with WinXP as soon as possible. I already have the 116MB image downloaded; I just have to burn it to a CD and boot up with it....gettin' excited!