It's not just a matter of skipping section 5c if you don't need networking.. Other sections include diversions
toward networking.and other options that aren't needed for a basic gentoo installation.
The theme of the instructions is about allowing you to choose options during the installation.
Well, what about an option where you can do a default installation from the start where all you'd
need to do is set the partitions just to get a basic gentoo installed and working and then do the customizing?
Because there really is no such thing as a "basic Gentoo", except for a Stage 3, and if you are doing a Stage 3, it should be fairly obvious what instructions you can't follow.
Maybe the problem is that I don't get what you mean by customizing. A "basic" workstation is not the same as a "basic" home user desktop, neither of which is the same as a "basic" web or mail server. And none of these is the same as a home user desktop which runs a web server and requires the owner to be able to ssh into it so it can be administered remotely.
"How the system will be used" is a decision that is best made before the install process begins; Gentoo is one of the few that allows you to target the install process to this decision, rather than forcing you to re-target the machine after the install is completed based on decisions that the installer has made on your behalf (such as what packages you need and what capabilities those packages support).
Even if this is not what you are talking about, this complaint doesn't seem to have much to do with your difficulty in extracting which specific instructions you need to perform to do a Stage 3 installation, which is basically exactly what you have asked for (a "basic" Gentoo installation that can be performed without a network connection).
What's the advantage of requiring you to make critical decisions during installation where a poor choice can
result in a defective installation?
Ummm... to have a "defective" installation, you would have to know what you were using the installation for, which would not be "basic", but "custom". After all, all the install variants are intended to *work* (i.e., produce a viable installed system that boots the kernel and runs), so that can't be what you mean. The only 'critical' decisions you have to make during install are a kernel, and a syslogger, neither of which is 'critical' unless you have specific-- custom-- needs that require a specific configuration to fulfill.
And what is so good about getting on line during installation to get the latest
version of something when it can be done after gentoo is installed?
Then get it after Gentoo is installed. A Stage 3 installation does not require a network connection.
Even better, an option for a default
installation, minus customizing options except partitioning, for a plain vanilla gentoo.
This exists. It's called a Stage 3.
I'm clearly missing something about this rant.
Holly
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