Gentoo - advantages of use ???

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psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:27 am

OK. I'm installing gentoo because we have a need for it here at work.

However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....

I'm no fan of MS, but, for home use, why would I consider using Gentoo as opposed to sticking to Windows Xp or something ???

OK. XP isn't great but it works (most of the time), is easy to install, and all my software works on it.

What advantage would I get from using gentoo instead (or alongside), apart from as a sort of interest factor ????

smlgbl · Post by **smlgbl** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:01 am

Gentoo, or linux at that, isn't for everyone. If you like a system that just works and you're not into extraordinary stuff, go ahead, stay with M$. But for me personally, I like to be able to see what is going on inside my computer, especially if something doesn't work. With linux I can try to track the problem down, look at the source code, ask people here at the forums aso. With windows, all I can do is try some more ticks and clicks, reboot a couple of times and then be unhappy that it still doesn't work. Of course we all have to be honest that with Windows many things just work out of the box. But then again, so do the viruses and trojans and the like, that windows is so prone to.
For me, many things with gentoo also "just worked", and if not, I actually enjoyed tracking the problems down and learning a lot. Most of the time.

So, whatever floats your boat...

runningwithscissors · Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:08 am

psychocandy wrote:OK. I'm installing gentoo because we have a need for it here at work.

However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....

It seems that way at first, but it couldn't be simpler. You simply prepare your disk partitions and dump Gentoo onto them. No messing about with install options, dialogs, installed programs on older partitions needing a reinstall, etc (well, mostly if you haven't made some major changes to the system libraries)

psychocandy wrote:I'm no fan of MS, but, for home use, why would I consider using Gentoo as opposed to sticking to Windows Xp or something ???

OK. XP isn't great but it works (most of the time), is easy to install, and all my software works on it.

Maybe if you can't think of a reason, then you shouldn't. XP is just fine for a lot of people.

psychocandy wrote:What advantage would I get from using gentoo instead (or alongside), apart from as a sort of interest factor ????

Protection from DRM policies and such. An easier way to operate your machine. Yes, Gentoo is more predictable and almost any problems that arise can be fixed without a full reinstall and installation of all other programs/settings, etc. after that.
It is fast, free, simple, it can also be made to look very nice and has some good generic software.

If you have specialised applications that only run on Windows, don't bother with gentoo.

fangorn · Post by **fangorn** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:30 am

If you dont feel the urge to leave your common ground, and just want to see if there is something else, try one of the linux livecds out there (like knoppix www.knopper.net).

If you like what you see, there are plenty of linux distributions that specialize on windows convertants (gentoo not being one of them).

for being happy with Gentoo Linux you have to be willing to read the documentation in the docs section, the forums for more specialized problems, and if you dont find any written solution, to ask here. You will learn the insides of a linux system pretty well that way. If you dont want to know how your computer "ticks", that is ok, but you probably should look for another linux distribution then (the most hyped atm is Ubuntu).

Naib · Post by **Naib** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:42 pm

psychocandy wrote:OK. I'm installing gentoo because we have a need for it here at work.

However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....

I'm no fan of MS, but, for home use, why would I consider using Gentoo as opposed to sticking to Windows Xp or something ???

OK. XP isn't great but it works (most of the time), is easy to install, and all my software works on it.

What advantage would I get from using gentoo instead (or alongside), apart from as a sort of interest factor ????

A Gentoo install is actually really easy as long as you really read the manual and follow it.
Gentoo has fantastic documentation - sure takes some time (although my new rig flies!!!)

Advantages?
Package management - ok other distro's now *have* some dependacy package-management, but when I first came to gentoo is was because I was getting pissed off at finding an RPM trying to install it only to have it say "requires this", go find this, to then have "requires that" ...
Gentoo was a breath of fresh air.

Streamlined!! the /etc within mandrake and RedHat had soo much stuff in it it was rediculous. Gentoo only installs what you want and what is needed. inb the first weekend of installing Gentoo I learnt more about the guts of a distro then I did in the years of using RH/Mandrake. In the first week I knew what my config files were

Corona688 · Post by **Corona688** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:56 pm

The advantages to me:

An OS that I know exactly what's inside -- no DRM crap, no "genuine advantage"
Nothing gets installed "by accident" while browsing the net
Stable enough to run for months without reboot
Simple remote administration
Doesn't puke up it's own skull if I upgrade without it's permission
Supports strange new architectures long before any other OS, linux or not

You'll notice none of these reasons have much to do with the reasons people use Windows. When someone asks how it's better than Windows, they're probably still demanding the Windows interface and all the software they're used to. You won't get it... It can do the same things but not always in the same way. I think it's quite likely you're not going to like it, advantages or not.

pilla · Post by **pilla** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:01 pm

psychocandy wrote:OK. I'm installing gentoo because we have a need for it here at work.

If you need it, why should I try to convince you?

Brainfart · Post by **Brainfart** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:39 pm

If you need Linux at work, then you need it. But perhaps Gentoo is not the best distro, especially if you are not familiar with Linux systems. You're almost certainly going to be somewhat preoccupied with productivity at work, and building/learning Gentoo does require some time in and of itself. I'd recommend perhaps a binary distro where you get a better out-of-the-box setup process. And for this, I mainly am referring to the install time. You should consider Ubuntu and Fedora Core. I won't tell you which to use, but consider that Gentoo is not the best fit for this situation.

Overall, as others have addressed, Gentoo is actually easy to install if you follow the docs. And you have complete control of the software on your system. But if you don't need that, well, there might not be a point.

cokey · Post by **cokey** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:38 pm

Gentoo most certainly isn't the distribution for everybody. If you want/need to tailor a Linux install to your own specifications or need total control over it's setup and specifications then gentoo is for you, that's why it is a meta-distribution. If you just need Linux for security and as an alternative to windows then i would suggest an easier one.

A lot of people (myself included) like the total control that Gentoo gives and therefore use it for package testing and as a hobby, I use another distribution for critical day-to-day use because i'm just lazy, cannot be bothered with some of the compile times and don't want to spend half my time doing ./configure make make install

bluedevils · Post by **bluedevils** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:30 pm

Try kubuntu. It's simple to install and maintain. Kubuntu is very fire and forget. You'll have a better "home" experience.

Gentoo I find is more powerful and flexible than kubuntu, but it demands attention.

Most linux flavours have the advantage of being free, having free software applications and can be customized to the max.

i92guboj · Post by **i92guboj** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:41 pm

psychocandy wrote:OK. I'm installing gentoo because we have a need for it here at work.

However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....

I'm no fan of MS, but, for home use, why would I consider using Gentoo as opposed to sticking to Windows Xp or something ???

OK. XP isn't great but it works (most of the time), is easy to install, and all my software works on it.

What advantage would I get from using gentoo instead (or alongside), apart from as a sort of interest factor ????

None.

Not every trowsers fit everyone.

If you are convinced on all what you said, then you dont need to switch your os.

Plugin_baby · Post by **Plugin_baby** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:43 am

psychocandy wrote:However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....

You're installing gentoo on a sparc, right?
You'll probably find an x86 install to be a little less painfull to set up

Q-collective · Post by **Q-collective** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:25 am

Wow, what a unique one of a kind thread this is.

psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:59 am

Plugin_baby wrote:
psychocandy wrote:However, so far I've found its not the easiest to install and get working....
You're installing gentoo on a sparc, right?
You'll probably find an x86 install to be a little less painfull to set up

Yep. On a sparc. Complete nightmare....

psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:00 am

Q-collective wrote:Wow, what a unique one of a kind thread this is.

I take it thats a sarcastic comment ?

psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:02 am

Brainfart wrote:If you need Linux at work, then you need it. But perhaps Gentoo is not the best distro, especially if you are not familiar with Linux systems. You're almost certainly going to be somewhat preoccupied with productivity at work, and building/learning Gentoo does require some time in and of itself. I'd recommend perhaps a binary distro where you get a better out-of-the-box setup process. And for this, I mainly am referring to the install time. You should consider Ubuntu and Fedora Core. I won't tell you which to use, but consider that Gentoo is not the best fit for this situation.

Overall, as others have addressed, Gentoo is actually easy to install if you follow the docs. And you have complete control of the software on your system. But if you don't need that, well, there might not be a point.

Using gentoo because we need to be able to produce a customised liveCD to boot a Sun box into. Then we use this along with partimage to produce an image onto a usb hard disk.

Unfortunately, its a little more difficult to do with Solaris....

My predecessor used a gentoo livecd but all the docs (and the original CD) are gone, so I'm trying to recreate what he did.

psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:04 am

bluedevils wrote:Try kubuntu. It's simple to install and maintain. Kubuntu is very fire and forget. You'll have a better "home" experience.

Gentoo I find is more powerful and flexible than kubuntu, but it demands attention.

Most linux flavours have the advantage of being free, having free software applications and can be customized to the max.

I'll have to try ubunto ot kubunto. Must admit never heard of them before....

Do these work on a sparc?

Would I be able to create a LiveCD for this?

nikaya · Post by **nikaya** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:16 am

Besides the other statements:Gentoo is pure fun.

Since I'm using Gentoo I actually began to understand Linux.

cokey · Post by **cokey** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:34 pm

psychocandy wrote:
bluedevils wrote:Try kubuntu. It's simple to install and maintain. Kubuntu is very fire and forget. You'll have a better "home" experience.

Gentoo I find is more powerful and flexible than kubuntu, but it demands attention.

Most linux flavours have the advantage of being free, having free software applications and can be customized to the max.
I'll have to try ubuntu ot kubunt. Must admit never heard of them before....

Do these work on a sparc?

Would I be able to create a LiveCD for this?

Ubuntu is the most popular distribution at the moment and for a very good reason, everything just works and it is nice and easy to maintain.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64), Sun UltraSPARC and T1 (Sun Fire T1000 and T2000), PowerPC (Apple iBook, Powerbook, G4 and G5) and OpenPower (Power5) architectures.

pilla · Post by **pilla** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:16 pm

cokehabit wrote: The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64), Sun UltraSPARC and T1 (Sun Fire T1000 and T2000), PowerPC (Apple iBook, Powerbook, G4 and G5) and OpenPower (Power5) architectures.

Take g4 out of the list.... I've tried to install on one and it just does not work. Now, Gentoo works on it.

Matteo Azzali · Post by **Matteo Azzali** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:11 pm

I would suggest Kubuntu or Xubuntu as Ubuntu actually contains Novell software for sure
( please read http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.p ... ;16;fpid;1
and http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-37 ... ml#3724054
to understand this could become a big issue ...... ), as mono and beagle are mainly gnome related,
and it could become needed to remove them from every distro in a short time....

Naib · Post by **Naib** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:29 pm

Matteo Azzali wrote: to understand this could become a big issue ...... ), as mono and beagle are mainly gnome related,
and it could become needed to remove them from every distro in a short time....

good job I dont use/rely on them

cokey · Post by **cokey** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:31 am

pilla wrote:
cokehabit wrote: The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64), Sun UltraSPARC and T1 (Sun Fire T1000 and T2000), PowerPC (Apple iBook, Powerbook, G4 and G5) and OpenPower (Power5) architectures.
Take g4 out of the list.... I've tried to install on one and it just does not work. Now, Gentoo works on it.

just because you downloaded the Sparc disk accidentely doesn't mean you can install it on a G4

Q-collective · Post by **Q-collective** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:33 am

psychocandy wrote:
Q-collective wrote:Wow, what a unique one of a kind thread this is.
I take it thats a sarcastic comment ?

Good that you noticed it.
I wonder why it hasn't been closed yet, seems that no mod is paying attention.

psychocandy · Post by **psychocandy** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:47 am

Q-collective wrote:
psychocandy wrote:
Q-collective wrote:Wow, what a unique one of a kind thread this is.
I take it thats a sarcastic comment ?
Good that you noticed it.
I wonder why it hasn't been closed yet, seems that no mod is paying attention.

If its of no interest to you why are you wasting your time replying to it then?

Who made you 'enforcer of non-interesting threads' anyway?

Please leave this thread alone - like I said if you're not interested just ignore it.

Gentoo - advantages of use ???

Gentoo - advantages of use ???

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