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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Agreed. Gentoo is fast not necessarily because of source compilation, but because of the efficiency of only having the needed/desired software installed, and customized to your specs. For most of the packages that would require massive compile time, such as OpenOffice, you can simply emerge the binaries without having to worry about dependencies. I use Kuroo for Gentoo portage interaction. It's a little buggy*, but overall adds two advantages: it makes the update process easier to manage, and it allows for much easier browsing of the portage tree. It shows hierarchical lists of portage, what's installed, and what updates it believes are available based on "emerge -uDav world" (but it has some problems*). This is cool, because it helps me identify packages that are outdated, and replacements for packages/programs that should be considered outdated (like etc-update). It also allows you to easily edit the world, package.mask, package.keywords, and package.unmask files, as well as having a nice make.conf editor. You can right click a package in the portage list to unmask (add to the package.keywords file) or install immediately. *Kuroo tends to pare the world file down to a dozen or so entries periodically - however, it makes up for that by having a button labelled "Export all installed packages to world file." It also, for some reason, keeps showing me "updates" for arts and kdelibs, alternating between 3.4.1-r1 and 3.4.3; that is, after I upgrade to 3.4.3, it then shows v3.4.1-r1 in the "Updates" list (properly labelled as [ UD ]), then shows 3.4.3 after I downgrade again. Command line doesn't do that, so I don't know why it does that, especially for just those 2 packages. Other than that, it works like a champ. Roger E. Rustad, Jr. wrote: > Amen, Que. I've got Gentoo running on my laptop now and agree with > just about everything you say. > > There are some GUI tools to help install ebuilds (similar to YaST). > I haven't used them, but I've seen them out there. > > > On 3/8/06, *Que Osler* <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > What separates Gentoo from other GNU/Linux distributions? It isn't > really a distribution. It's more of a meta-distribution, a > collection of tools that manage the "from scratch" approach. It > doesn't have any packages per se, just ebuilds that describe where > the source packages can be downloaded, and how to include your > specified compilation preferences in the process. Installation of > any part of the system consists in issuing the command |emerge > /packagename/|, and then sitting back while Portage, the packaging > system based on BSD Ports, downloads the sources, unpacks, > configures, and compiles them, and finally installs your shiny new > software. > > There is another feature of Gentoo's meta-distribution approach > that appeals to me. With many distributions, you are stuck in their > release cycle, which means backing your data up and upgrading in a > sometimes not-so-seamless way. You can, of course, continually > update packages in the meantime, but in my experience with SUSE > (which I confess may be out of date) it doesn't match the > simplicity of |emerge sync && emerge -u world|. With those two > commands I can sync my local package database with the up-to-date > online version, and then update every package on my system that has > an available upgrade. I can do this weekly, if I'm obsessive, or > once every few months, or when a major new release of KDE comes > out. I can even fine-tune which package versions I want, opting for > more unstable packages where I need the features, and blocking > supposedly stable packages I have problems with, in a way that > doesn't just get overwritten with the next upgrade command. > > All of this brings me to the first reason why I use Gentoo for my > workstation: the package management is /easy/, leaving me to get on > with my work. I don't have to bother with dependencies, missing > libraries, out-of-date binaries (often because the packager lost > interest or is taking too long to release the code), crazy > configuration systems, or any of the other problems I've had with > other distributions. > > Of course Gentoo isn't all sugar and spice; there are downsides. > The first and most obvious is that if you compile everything from > source code, you're condemned to wait. Getting Gentoo up and > running is likely to take you a few days, unless you don't sleep, > and from then on major upgrades can set you back a similar amount > of time. > > For those who don't feel like learning the ins and outs of their > software before they can configure it, the lack of tools like > SUSE's YaST and Mandrake's Control Centre will grate. Using your > new USB key drive for the first time, which on other distributions > would often be a matter of plugging it in, can require kernel > recompiles and long searches on the forums and Google before you > work it out. Of course the flip side is that when the flashy tools > of other distributions might fail you, leaving you digging through > their crazy configuration system, the Gentoo user is working with > the system the developers documented. So to summarise: Why do I use > Gentoo? Not because it is more optimised, nor particularly because > it is customised and takes up less hard drive space. I appreciate > the simple, solid package and configuration management systems that > keep out of my way; I appreciate the helpful documentation; I find > the user forums indispensable; and I appreciate the community > approach enshrined in Gentoo's social contract. At the end of the > day, as the Gentoo Web site says, "the Gentoo developer and user > community is undoubtedly Gentoo's strongest value." > > > > > _______________________________________________ Que Osler, MSIT /"A > smile can open a heart quicker than a key can open a door."/ > > _______________________________________________ 909linux mailing > list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > http://909linux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/909linux > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > _______________________________________________ 909linux mailing > list [email protected] > http://909linux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/909linux - -- Loren Cress Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. -- Albert Einstein You know, Hobbes, some days even my rocketship underpants don't help. - -- Calvin The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. -- Ronald Reagan Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect. - -- Benny Hill -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFED2RKLFtx99ZgPbQRAtKCAKC0eakqSdFqn7RQRrSDgntWXFmw6gCfV5kl Xn3Om7COdd2BQbD7m77e680= =nU/v -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
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