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Originally posted by jaa1180 What options did you choose?
I dunno. I just told it what I liked.
newer rig, Technical, base system, my modules, Many choices, livecd, Cutting edge, source form, A must for dependancy checking, Similar to Windows or Macintosh.
That is in order skipping installation type. I copy and pasted it. I'm getting sleepy now so I am lazy.
It was right about Mandrake too. I liked it until I found something better, which didn't take me long, about 6 months or so.
Oh, I forgot. I did my Gentoo install from Mandrake. I think I did it to another hard drive. It was a while ago though and I don't have to worry about messing up windoze or anything, there is no windoze here, never has been, never will either.
If you want to do it from what you are using now, make sure you have the chroot command and you should be good to go. I would assume you would have the rest of the commands, tar, mount etc.
Gentoo is not as hard as some say but if you are really new to Linux, read the guide several times and highlight the stuff that relates to you. Also keep in mind that if you screw up something, don't start over, most anything can be fixed. Trust me, I have screwed up a lot and it can be fixed. The only exception is messing up your partitions maybe. If you make the root partition 500MBs instead of 5GBs, you may want a fresh start. You may need more room than that. LOL
You may also want to make use of the IRC channels too. Good fast help there. I have been there a few times. If I can do a install on a rig that is overseas via ssh, anybody should be able to do it if they can hit the reset button. Yup, I done two installs over ssh for a rig in Sweden and one in Michigan, USA that is. Reboot, what a few minutes then log in and finish up. Trick is getting that kernel and networking !juuuuuusssst! right. If you can't get back in, it is a mess.
It suggested knoppix for me - way way off.
However, all the distros on the list gave 80% or higher.
Even typing in answers as a total newbie,
* Built for newer computers
* Easy to use
* Installed with a graphical installer
* Installed with everything
* One that detects your hardware for you
* Packed with only 1 program for each application to save space
* Full of the latest and greatest features that may take up processing power
* Binary package based
* Free from dependancy hell
* Windows like in GUI Nature
The result ...
Based on these results we recommend you to try(if you haven't tried it yet):
Ark
LOL, perhaps it is not off.. just you are thinking it is incorrect .
I am not willing to dedicate the time required for Gentoo right now. I have fixed all the problem with Ubuntu.. so I will just stick with it for now. Even though there are still things installed that I don't want and cannot uninstall them.
Anyone have a nice PIII they don't want? and willing to ship to Tennessee?
I gave LFS some thought before switching to Gentoo. Then I fell in LOVE with portage. I deleted all the files I had downloaded for LFS. I also wanted to get rid of Mandrake too. It was . . . buggy.
Originally posted by dalek Well I started with Mandrake 9.1, upgraded to Mandrake 9.2, then downgraded to 9.1 again. After a !little! bit of frustration I switched to Gentoo. I haven't looked back.
Yes, Gentoo is a bit tough to install if you are new. The absolute easiest way to install Gentoo is from within another running distro. I did mine from Mandrake. You can open the install docs on the CD and copy and paste a lot of the commands. If you run into a question, just go to the forums and search. It is VERY rare that you will have a problem that has not already been dealt with by someone. I have even installed Gentoo over ssh where the rig was in another country. It worked too, just takes a little time and a prayer that my dial-up will hold up.
There are a lot of distros out there but after using Gentoo and getting pretty used to it, I wouldn't dream of switching to anything else. If you want to install something, just type in emerge <whatever> and go take a nap. It'll will be done when you get up, unless it is a small program, then you can just wait. Updates are pretty much a dream as well.
It is hard to pick one until you have used them all though. Maybe I just got lucky. I now have 4 rigs running Gentoo. I can do a basic server install in a few hours, fully up to date and ready to go. No GUI though. KDE takes a while to compile.
Gentoo can be a bit to easy sometimes. I have installed a lot of programs that just plain worked. Might be worth a good read.
You asked. Oh, KDE starts on my rig in about 7 seconds with all the eye candy turned on. It's so fast I think I see lightning come from it. That is another good thing about Gentoo. You can custom compile it to your specific rig. This likely wouldn't boot in another system unless they were very close.
Later
Amen. Gentoo , no other. Hard to install, but goes like hell.
(BTW: by "Way off", I refer to the stated aims of the questionair. I may not agree with the coice of target, but can still tell wether it has been hit.)
"Anyone have a nice PIII they don't want? and willing to ship to Tennessee?"
You paying for this trip to Tennessee?
redhatrosh: you make a good point: neither of the tests allow for specific linux experience.
On Gentoo: thi is one of the micro-configurable 'nix's. If you know what you want, and what you are likely to be using your computer for, then it can be quite astounding. Others like this are Slackware (the oldes distro) and, of course, LFS. They all have the characteristic of being hell to set up, and amazing once all the glitches are ironed out. As a result of this, they have a loyal following.
However, this isn't the only way to go for optimisation. See Yoper - provided you have a 686.
Originally posted by Simon Bridge jaa1180: which things did you want to remove?
The HP printing for one. And.. well can't think of anything off hand. Will have to look.
<snip>
Quote:
"Anyone have a nice PIII they don't want? and willing to ship to Tennessee?"
You paying for this trip to Tennessee?
Certainly! I will pay for shipping, if it is a decent PC. Not a 486 someone is trying to get rid off. You know, a 500MHz and up PC that takes DIMM memory.
Or even email me with the PC specs... I will let you know if I can take it.
jaa1180: "The HP printing for one. And.. well can't think of anything off hand."
... Oh yes, I remember your printer issues.
HP Printing dosn't do anything if you don't use it and only occupies kb's. I wouldn't worry about it. (I think you can use apt-get to find out which package supplies this - and then remove the package. but I forget how and I left my Ubuntu box in my other pants.)
jaa1180: "Certainly! I will pay for shipping"
... drat! And I was hoping for a Tennessee vacation Since I'm in NZ, shipping technology to and from the US is problematical. Doable but annoying - NZ and US-state dept don't get on.
(Politics: Nuclear weapons ban blah ANZUS blah blah war on Iraq blah blah... and that's enough politics for this forum.[*]) You're better off going local: eBay?
[*] It is as well, however, no take note of the international situation when reading these posts. Some people are posting from places where the internet is a restricted area and may be risking imprisonment just for typing a few words. Some conversations here are between members of traditionally enemy nationalities. Personally I think this is great - the way the linux community transends national barriers like this. However: this is delicate and it is as well to be aware. Just my ton of flax worth.
Originally posted by runlevel0 IOne of the leading ideas behind Gentoo's portage system was that a single developer would be able to manage the compilation and setup of an entire distro.
I couldn't let this go unnoticed, I didn't read page 2 of this thread though so if someone called it there I apologise for repeating. The portage system in Gentoo is based very strongly of the BSD Ports system, it's far from an original idea.
Gentoo is remarkably easy to install, don't let people tell you otherwise. You'll just need to remember to set aside one full day per week to upgrade your package to the latest.
Originally posted by cs-cam Gentoo is remarkably easy to install, don't let people tell you otherwise. You'll just need to remember to set aside one full day per week to upgrade your package to the latest.
One day per week?! Come on... that seems a bit extreme. I don't have a whole day to set aside just to do updates. That is crazy!
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I'm getting sleepy now so I am lazy.
If you can't get back in, it is a mess.
Since I'm in NZ, shipping technology to and from the US is problematical. Doable but annoying - NZ and US-state dept don't get on. 
