why should lfs users try gentoo?

doRphine · Guest

I am already a lfs(linux from scratch) user. I have been using lfs for more than 10 months and I like it. For the most people, main reasons for trying out lfs is:
1. learn about linux
2. You have 100% control over your linux system.
I read Gentoo doc. Gentoo basically had the same idea with lfs.
In addition to lfs, it seems like it's offering:
1. Easier way of upgrading software
2. Much simpler installation procedure than lfs.

Does any lfs users out there who moved to gentoo? I like to hear more about lfs vs Gentoo issues.

steveD · Guest

I'm a lfs user too. LFS teaches me how to compile and build software from source code. All I need is a Linux skeleton OS which has all compiler tools built-in so that I can build other stuffs. Gentoo provides me this skeleton (stage2 or stage3 ISO image). For LFS I have to build everything and it depends on another distro on your computer. With Gentoo, I don't need any distro in my computer at all. All I need it the stage2 and stage3 image on CDROM. I can blank out all partitions and start everything from scratch.
Gentoo has a great portage tool to make compilation and installation easy for you, but for some packages, I still use the LFS way to compile the software, instead of using "emerge app-name". The dependency of modules in Gentoo is still not perfect. E.g. I always use LFS method to compile apache and PHP. It's much easier this way. I read from the forum that some people complaint why PHP depends on tcl-tk, X11 and other stuffs in order to compile. You need to master the USE variable to fine-tuning the compilation. If you do'nt know well how to use the USE variable, it's better to compile using the LFS method.

Nitro · Posted: Sun May 12, 2002 10:17 pm Post subject:

The main reason I stopped messing around with LFS is to get the package management features of portage, and security. If you build an LFS system, your system is very specific, and few other people are running the same software combinations as you. You must patch your own packages without knowing how it will affect other parts of your system. With Gentoo, you have a much similar userbase who will help to pick up on stuff you overlook.
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rommel · Posted: Sun May 12, 2002 11:54 pm Post subject:

i think if your happy witht eh lfs you have built then there would be little reason to switch to gentoo...i can see the point however that nitro is making....it would give far more support and allow it to be as custom as possible for a distrobution....i found gentoo by reading areview about a shuttle mainboard.....they set it up using gentoo...but i wouldnt mind trying lfs but other then that i am sticking with gentoo.

TheWart · Posted: Mon May 13, 2002 4:11 am Post subject:

I had gotten an LFS system up and running, but it took way too long imo. While am/was definitely a noob (about a year of experience), I just did not have the time. When I saw Gentoo, it was love at first site.

MaRTiaN · Posted: Mon May 13, 2002 9:12 pm Post subject:

LFS was a great learning tool, it was just too much hassle setting up the system. LFS took me several days to put together, it didn't work the first two attempts, and the final attempt took several more days of tuning until it ran well.

When it came to building this pc, gentoo just seemed to offer the best mix of convenience and customisability. So far it has worked. I have all the speed of LFS and almost the same managment ability of one of the boxed distro's. I'll never go back to LFS, unless gentoo goes all redhat on us

The main reasons I think Gentoo is better than LFS because:

-quicker installation
-simple managment of packages
-it offers similar perofrmance benefits
-like lfs you install what you want for your system, no bloat

-more time working, less time configuring
-gentoo sounds sexier and less geekish than "linux from scratch"

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Nitro · Posted: Tue May 14, 2002 1:48 am Post subject:

Guest · Guest

i build my gentoo box from stage 1

whats the diffrence anyway?
from stage2 or 1 ?

MaRTiaN · Posted: Tue May 14, 2002 3:18 pm Post subject:

Gentoo: All the fun of LFS, but none of the pain :wink:

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rommel · Posted: Wed May 15, 2002 6:01 am Post subject:

you dont bootstrap from stage 2...but i think if your sure of the harware you have will work and all its best to go from stage 1...it doesnt take that long....bootstrap then emerge system when you go to sleep and emerge kde when you leave for school or work....lol...then mozilla when you go to sleep the next night....kinda like christmas when you wake up

stevil · Posted: Wed May 15, 2002 9:48 pm Post subject: I use both

I love LFS and will continue to use it for my server needs, but for a desktop environment Gentoo rules. I was up and running in under 2 days with a full KDE environment. I now only need to use windows for a couple of apps - the Gentoo distro provides me with everything else that I need.

Ash · Guest

bonito · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 01 May 2002 Posts: 80

my install before this current gentoo install I have was an lfs install. I was able to somewhat successfully build an lfs system, but I found using it to be a bit buggy ( could be my fault, I wanted to try gcc-3.0.4 with it and I also built it on reiserfs but it ran

) Now that you have learned some more about linux through lfs, its time to get real IMO and get something that doesnt take days of typing commands to work for you. I also had other problems with lfs that I dont really believe to be my fault, as I like the pretty gui's etc I installed kde after lfs and used a blfs document to help me in combination with the kde install page. However I would fail to install it based on dependancies needed and when I installed the dependencies, the kde install script didnt recognize the dependancies installed and it resulted in either less functionality or a compile failure. Gentoo is slick, fast and clean, and its so easy to update. I hope never to install Mandrake again lol...if only they could get pppoe to work with the install cd

dice · Guru Joined: 21 Apr 2002 Posts: 577

I was a long time (6+ years) Slackware user, eventualy it got to the point where I was creating so many slackpacks for software I was installing that I figured I might as well start running my own distro so I could compile the entire system from source and use a custom package management system based on Slackware's protopkg tool. The problem with this is that it's a huge pain in the ass to get it up and running. Then I heard about Sorceror, but that distro was broken up by political crud before I got around to installing it. Then a friend suggested Gentoo, and now here I am

Techie2000 · Guru Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 344

I am someone who tried to install LFS. But it fought with me. Won't compile Glibc. I never seriously considered Gentoo until now. Emerge is just too appealing...