Trying out Gentoo

[Palin]

Welp after playing with the 2.5.59 beta kernel trying to get an integrated sound working. I figured I would try out gentoo to try and learn more about linux. so far the install is going really well :) can't wait til I can boot into it.

[pnuts]

Please post how it comes out, I am thinking about gentoo and hearing that the install is easy would make me try it.

[Palin]

Its going really well so far I still have to set up the kernel and some things right now I'm getting gnome. Its not to bad if you know your system hardware. it will take longer than an rpm distro since it compiles everything but you can make a really nice customized system from it :). if you have the room I would suggest installing it next to what ever distro you are using.

[koetting]

I just finished installing gentoo. The only trouble I had was with the "stage 3" install disk. It wouldn't boot in my cdrom. Dunno. I ended up using the "basic" install disk and everything worked great. I think the intall instructions are better than most and you end up with a very "clean" install. The emerge command rocks. Way better than rpm's, etc.

[Palin]

definitely starting to like emerge command its taking awhile to download and install these updates since --usepkgonly wasn't working for me but on the up side X is compiled for my machine :). This is also making me learn how linux is put together so much clearer.

[oblio]

I installed gentoo over my X-Mas break. I've only been using linux ( Redhat) for about 6 months now and not as my only OS. I mostly use WinXP. It took me about 2 weeks to really get Gentoo working. It was ok because it was on my laptop so I still had my desktop to use. I had about 2 or 3 failed installs, each time I either missed a directionon the install instructions or forgot something. I learned a HELL of a lot about linux though and am very glad I did it. School has started so I still haven't had time to configure ALSA and some other stuff. I also ended up trying a lot of things I might never have otherwise such as different windows managers (fluxbox right now). The downloading took more time than anything else in large part because I had the wrong module in. Gentoo isn't easy and it definately isn't a fast install but only 6 mos. of linux and I had never even compiled my own kernel before. Just have patience if your thinking of trying it, especially if your new.

NOTE: The latest KDE e-build just came out so the gentoo servers are supposedly swamped. I'd put off an install for a week or two if anyone is thinking about it otherwise the downloads may take a while.
-O

[b00zer]

I've installed it on a few machines, and i've noticed that using the chroot command and installing it from another distro is the better way imo to go about it. It's cool cuz you can install it and still have access to your system to do other things.

[Palin]

welp looks like I have it running at least x is up and I have that going for me :). I had to install redhat on a spare partition cause I didn't configure grub correctly but I learned some more about grub :). Its certainly not an easy or quick install but if you really want to learn how linux works its probably a good step to getting you there.

[Raoul_Duke]

Ahhh.......sometimes i consider uninstalling Gentoo, just to set-it up again :D

Seriously, it's an amazing distro.......if you treat it with respect, you get a lightening fast box at the end of it ;)

also, yes the servers are near to breaking point atm because of everyone downloading KDE 3.1 :(

[Palin]

Thats probably why the downloads from the emerge command were painfully slow last night :(.

[Raoul_Duke]

Originally posted by Palin
Thats probably why the downloads from the emerge command were painfully slow last night :(.

Yeah, don't worry though......once the fuss over KDE 3.1 is over they'll be humming nicely again ;)

[Palin]

suddenly realized some how I became a senior grasshoper. Its I wanted to change my title anyway.

[NecroLin]

Just checked out Gentoo's web site. It seems like a pretty cool distro...except I'm not sure if I have the patience to read that whole install page. Who knows maybe I'll download the ISO over the weekend & give it a spin.

This must run fast as hell...since everything is compiled on your computer everything is optimized for your system. Pretty cool.

I'd dowload this now, but...I have to go to work. :(

[Palin]

definitely takes some patience to install but so far seems to be well worth it :). and listen to the gentleman who said to install it chrooted from another distro because that will make a little better since you will be able to do things while its installing.

[fancypiper]

My first install (over 56k modem yet), I extracted the stage3 tarball, emerged ppp and wvdial binaries, configured modem, connected, emerged links and I was off and running, using the system and posting on bulletin boards while downloading and building stuff.

People seem to forget they have 6 virtual terminals to work with..

[The Ennead IX]

The Gnome 2.2 ebuild still hasn't made it into stable and that will probably keep the servers busy once everyone has kde 3.1. If you haven't done it yet though then nano -w /etc/make.conf and add or change the line for mirrors like so (bear in mind that i'm UK based so this may not suit your location)

GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://sunsite.dk/mirrors/gentoo/ ftp://gentoo.linux.no/pub/gentoo/ http://www.mirror.ac.uk/sites/www.ibiblio.org/gentoo http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"

If you're based elsewhere or just fancy using different mirrors then there is a full list of available ones @ http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xml

One other thing I do is to have the above line duplicated but with different mirrors, that is my primary one but I also have one with US mirrors and one with other uk & european mirrors. Have your primary list set up but leave the others commented out with a # and then you can swop them about in seconds meaning that in my case I download when it's night here from uk mirrors, other times from EU sites gmt +/-, and then when it hits about midnight EST I try out the US ones.

All in all the install isn't as bad as it seems, 3 or 4 CD's to d/load for some distros as opposed to 1 cd plus a bit more d/loading followed by some compile time. The only killers tend to be the big apps like kde (12hrs+ to d/load & compile) and they are also available as a GRP install from the larger CD (525Mb) if you aren't too concerned with heavily optimised. Normal apps like xine or mplayer and such only seem to take 10 or 15 mins.

I tried it for use as a backup system and just to get some experience/ see what the fuss was about, now I wouldn't be without it as my primary.

Edit: Note that the line of gentoo mirrors is one long line with each site one space apart and is not seperated by new lines as it appears on the post.

[Palin]

People seem to forget they have 6 virtual terminals to work with..

I used 4 virtual consoles during the install but I didn't like websurfing with lynx.

Thanks for the info Ennead :)

[fancypiper]

Originally posted by Palin
I didn't like websurfing with lynx.I don't either. Links is a much better browser than lynx.

[Can O' Beans]

I went from Installing Mandrake 9 twice, but never really using it, to a full blown, Gentoo stage 1 install. It's not hard at all if you follow the instructions. I was lucky enough that Gentoo supported all my hardware. I found a few problems, like a missing dependancy in latest NEdit when I tried emerging, but most problems are fixed pretty quickly on their forums and/or IRC channel.

I have Gentoo with Waimea as the WM, and trying to setup an Apache/PHP/MySQL/phpBB server. A/P/M emerged rather flawlessly, and the configuration isn't that hard. Runs a hell of a lot faster than Mandrake 9.

[koetting]

Anyone know how to make emerge recompile a package ? I didn't set any optomizations in my make.conf.

[fancypiper]

emerge <package> will recompile the package
emerge --emptytree <package> will recompile the package and all the dependences.

[Palin]

Thanks Ennead I changed my mirror and it downloads so much faster now. 200k/s way better than 40k/s