Gentoo as a Desktop OS, Just a couple Questions

[Bangz]

Hi,

Well, after getting Gentoo on my server, I'm extremely happy with myself, and how its performing.

Hasn't done 1 single dissappointing thing, and has been extremely solid for the last 2 weeks.

Right now, Im on Windows XP. Ive dual booted before with Redhat and had no problems.

Just wondering, if anyone can give me tips for the Gentoo install so It doesnt TOUCH my Windows Install, or ANY 'used' and partitioned space.

This is my current Partition Table. The Unallocated space is where I plan to put my Gentoo install, with the 10Gb being split over /boot, swap and /root.

[img:521820d9a0]http://www.threeten.com/images/pt.jpg[/img:521820d9a0]

Now, I didnt have much problems setting up Gentoo on my server using FDISK, BUT that was because it was only the single disk and I didnt care about stuffing up.

I will probably stick with the same fs's as my server, with, /boot being ext2, and /root being reiser.

1) Should I use PM8 to create the partitions, then format them during the Install? If so, how do I create a ReiserFS with PM8?


2) My other thing I want to make 100% sure before I go into the Install, is with setting up the dual booting. I'll probably just make GRUB write to the MBR and put an entry into it for WinXP. Will this cause any problems, or will any problems arise considering WinXP is on NTFS?

3) Also, for the stuff I need to install. Call me crazy, but I will be compiling everything from source. What in the make.conf etc do I need to have enabled for a typical Desktop OS? What should I take out, what should I add? For my server I left it all default, except removed OpenGL and X. I plan on having it startup similar to redhat, where it goes straight into X, then I'll choose to load KDE or whatever.


4) inally, what Compiler options should I give to gcc for pure speed ? XP2100B Overclocked, 8RDA+, XMS3200. It will be a desktop OS, however being a Uni student starting 3rd year, I expect all my programming to be done on it. I still want the ability to see debug if I want.

Cheers

[plate]

I'll refrain from moving this to Duplicate Threads because of the colourful screenshot you included , but all your questions have been answered in the forums many times already. Most of your concerns are already addressed in the FAQ section, search around for the others. Briefly answered:

1. First part yes, second part no, because you can't.
2. GRUB is safe to use, but if you only dual-boot you can use the NT bootloader method. For triple-booting and more, I'd go for GRUB in the MBR.
3. Check the desktop configuration guide and the Howto on USE variables.
4. Don't overclock, don't go crazy on the CFLAGS.

[abhishek]