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i was running mandrake as my first "real" linux installation for something like two months, when i heard about gentoo and gave it a try. i must say, gentoo is the COOLEST distribution i've ever seen!
for those who don't know about gentoo: gentoo linux is somewhat different from other distros like mandrake, redhat etc.: you build up your whole system from source, this means everything is downloaded as a source and compiled with the options you want.
the heart of linux is called "portage", which is a mix from BSD's ports system and debian's apt-get. if you want to install an application, say xmms, you just type
#emerge xmms
and gentoo downloads, compiles and installs the newest version of xmms, including some cool patches. portage keeps track of all the apps you've installed and gives you the ability to also easily (and safely) uninstall an applications by typing
#emerge unmerge xmms
for example. if you want your WHOLE system to be updated, just type
#emerge --update world
for portage to always know about the newest versions, you should first do an
#emerge rsync
so that portage downloads the newest "portage tree" which contains information for more than 4000 packages so far.
this way, you always have the newest software, with all recent security & stability patches. also, you can build up the entire system like YOU want it. you can exactly tell gentoo what you want and what you don't want to be compiled into your programs. this is done with the USE variable. for example, if you want all your sound apps to have support for ogg vorbis, you would just add "ogg" to the USE variable. or if you'd like to add some mmx or sse optimizations to your apps, just add "mmx" and "sse" to your USE variable.
this USE variable and all other portage-related things are set up in /etc/make.conf. this file also let's you set the CFLAGS, and CXXFLAGS, which tells the compiler how to compile the sources (optimized or not).
in my opinion, gentoo is the perfect distro for any experienced linux user who wants full control over their system. but, i think it's also very suitable for people relatively new to liunx, but willing of how linux and your computer works. in my first 3 days with gentoo, i've learned more about linux than in my 2 months with mandrake.
it's wonderful how to see everything working fine, i've never had such a smooth, perfect and damn FAST linux running on my machine. compiling takes some time, but it's well worth it!
mandrake made me switch to linux, gentoo made me LOVE LINUX! give it a try!
uilleann / # emerge life
Calculating dependencies
emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy "life".
!!! Error calculating dependencies. Please correct.
uilleann / # emerge girlfriend
Calculating dependencies
emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy "girlfriend".
!!! Error calculating dependencies. Please correct.
uilleann / #
fancypiper, you've highlighted a shortcoming of Gentoo's package update system - sometimes the desired packages are not available using the portage system. However, you could probably still download packages from specific web sites and install them the 'manual' way (tar -xvf life.tar, make, make install, etc). For the required packages, have a look here:
# /etc/conf.d/net:
# $Header: /home/cvsroot/gentoo-src/rc-scripts/etc/conf.d/net,v 1.7 2002/11/18 19:39:22 azarah Exp $
# Global config file for net.* rc-scripts
# This is basically the ifconfig argument without the ifconfig $iface
#
iface_eth0="192.168.0.1 broadcast 192.168.0.255 netmask 255.255.255.0"
#iface_eth1="207.170.82.202 broadcast 207.0.255.255 netmask 255.255.0.0"
# For DHCP set iface_eth? to "dhcp"
# For passing options to dhcpcd use dhcpcd_eth?
#
#iface_eth0="dhcp"
#dhcpcd_eth0="..."
# For adding aliases to a interface
#
#alias_eth0="192.168.0.3 192.168.0.4"
# NB: The next is only used for aliases.
#
# To add a custom netmask/broadcast address to created aliases,
# uncomment and change accordingly. Leave commented to assign
# defaults for that interface.
#
#broadcast_eth0="192.168.0.255 192.168.0.255"
#netmask_eth0="255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0"
# For setting the default gateway
#
#gateway="eth0/192.168.0.1"
After editing, save your changes, then type the command:
Originally posted by fancypiper Help! I can't get Gentoo to work!
Code:
uilleann / # emerge life
Calculating dependencies
emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy "life".
!!! Error calculating dependencies. Please correct.
uilleann / # emerge girlfriend
Calculating dependencies
emerge: there are no masked or unmasked ebuilds to satisfy "girlfriend".
!!! Error calculating dependencies. Please correct.
uilleann / #
Solution: use Debian.
Code:
[ddipaolo@quinn ~]% sudo aptitude install sex
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree
Reading extended state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
sex
0 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 67.2kB of archives. After unpacking 279kB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?]
fancypiper, Thanks for your help. I was unsure if i was going to make some kind of script or just edit it when i read the documentation. I was waiting to begin installing because i wanted to see what i would have to do.
Thanks i will begin installing now.
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