[SOLVED] thoughts of leaving Gentoo

Gentoo Bob · Last edited by Gentoo Bob on Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

I hate to say it but I think I'm going to switch distributions. I was recently playing around with Fedora Core 5 and really liked its easy install, easy software management/updating, and the lack of frustration. I've been using Gentoo for about 2 years now and I like Gentoo a lot! With Gentoo one can totally fit make a nice linux machine around their specific piece of machinery. Portage is great but it does have it downers. Updating software in Gentoo can be frustrating (blockers, etc), installing Gentoo period takes awhile. I've did all I could to make short cuts like save config files, stage3 files, portage files, but it still takes up a lot of time. For example, I was emerging gnome on a friends PC and stopped like 10 times because of stupid econf error, call stack issue, USE flags needed, etc. I dont have all day to just sit at my computer and monitor this thing. Installing gnome takes at least a day and if you leave I guarantee it will stop for something which is a pain. I just dont have time anymore to play around with Gentoo anymore. Id like to start an emerge and then walk away knowing that everything will install just fine. Like I said it is a great distro and I recommend it to anyone who wants to start learning linux, its great learning tool because you really get your hands dirty. Does anyone else feel this way? I'm writing this forum because im flustered and sad a bit. LOL I've been pretty faithful to Gentoo but I need simplicity in my life right now. Let me know anyones thoughts.
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pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

Moved from Other Things Gentoo
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Quis separabit? Quo animo?

RageOfOrder · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:06 am Post subject:

I put up with the little things in order to have the control and choice that I want, when I need it.
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...And then stuff happened.

calr0x · Apprentice Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 244

I have no clue where this stuff comes from...
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Edit the subject of the original post w/ [SOLVED] at the end if this thread is resolved.

dspgen · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 17 Aug 2005 Posts: 103

Unless I am mistaken, you can do a gnome binary install (and open office, firefox,etc) and it takes something less than a day.
Then you can do nice'd emerges in the background, and just check on them every day (or whenever).

Gentoo is a huge pain in the ass if you don't know some basic techniques to ease the pain.

Gentoo Bob · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject:

DSPgen - I have did a binary install before and I still had problems.

RageOfOrder - yes having control in your system is great.

PJP- i have no clue what you are talking about.

Thanks for your responses guys. I will keep Gentoo on my current systems, just anything new I decided to put linux on I will probably use Fedora. Im not leaving Gentoo completely. I enjoy Gentoo on my desktop besides its running my SSH server, Apache, and my Squid.
_________________
AMD 64 X2 4400+ on ECS nForce4
2GB DDR, 250GB SATA, GeForce 5500FX 256MB DDR2 PCI-E
---and----
Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop
Intel Centrino Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB SATA HDD, Intel3490 ABG Wireless,CDRW

floffe · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 2:08 pm Post subject:

pkp moved it because it's not a support request, which is what OTG is for. This is the forum for general talk around gentoo.

voidzero · Bodhisattva Joined: 21 Jul 2002 Posts: 265 Location: Grnn

Gentoo Bob · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:41 pm Post subject:

why are guys trying to hate? geez. I'm not feeling any love here.
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AMD 64 X2 4400+ on ECS nForce4
2GB DDR, 250GB SATA, GeForce 5500FX 256MB DDR2 PCI-E
---and----
Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop
Intel Centrino Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB SATA HDD, Intel3490 ABG Wireless,CDRW

arpunk · n00b Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 61 Location: Colombia

quag7 · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:16 pm Post subject:

Trading Gentoo for something else is like trading Hunter S. Thompson for CS Lewis.

Both have their advantages.

Me, I'm all about the Bad Craziness.

When the going gets weird, the weird go ~arch.
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Gentoo Bob · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 8:40 pm Post subject: yep

Yea, one of the downsides to switching from Gentoo would be learning different commands/functionality within Fedora. Like using Yum, finding where they install files. They are basically the same but since Linux has started to become more popular over the years, distros are starting to do their own thing. Its like a big race to see who can be the next Windows. FreeBSD drew me to Gentoo a few years ago. Ports or Portage? seems kinda similiar wouldnt ya say? lol After greatly thinking about it over a cup of tea, I think I will stay with Gentoo, i can figure out issues in Gentoo quicker than I could learn a new distro, on my own time anyways. I just got married!!! I dont have time anymore!!!! She follows me around the house and gets mad when I stay on the PC too long!!! AHHH!! just kidding...married life is grand. really it is! I'm actually just sitting here at work bored and really having nothing to talk about. You guys have been great. Thanks.
_________________
AMD 64 X2 4400+ on ECS nForce4
2GB DDR, 250GB SATA, GeForce 5500FX 256MB DDR2 PCI-E
---and----
Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop
Intel Centrino Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB SATA HDD, Intel3490 ABG Wireless,CDRW

pteppic · l33t Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 781

adekoba · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 06 Oct 2006 Posts: 129

I don't know why so many people have problems with gentoo. I've had literally like two compared to a couple a day (that were unsolvable) with ubuntu and suse ect.

Gentoo Bob · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:57 pm Post subject:

Just call me bob then. Out of all the times I have had Gentoo I havent had that many problems, I'm just over reacting but when you do get a problem it does suck sometimes. The first time I installed Gentoo it was on a computer that was about a year or so old at the current time and Gentoo was smooth as butter installing. its when you got all the new fun stuff you want to install that starts to be a problem, especially when your using an ATI video card!!!! AHHH!!! I love NVIDIA but I got a laptop that had an ATI card in it and I wouldnt have bought it if it wasnt so damn cheap and a good deal. at first getting 3d acceleration to work sucked, but thanks to Gentoo's developers and staff they work their butts off to provide us with ATI drivers with 3d acceleration. Anywho...I'm ready to go home now for the day.
_________________
AMD 64 X2 4400+ on ECS nForce4
2GB DDR, 250GB SATA, GeForce 5500FX 256MB DDR2 PCI-E
---and----
Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop
Intel Centrino Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB SATA HDD, Intel3490 ABG Wireless,CDRW