Two points on this. Firstly, there are binary packages available, and apparently there are even Package CD images available for download which contain pre-built packages for initial installation. Secondly, after a few days of patiently compiling, you will get good use out of your minimal hardware and your system will rock! :-) I've run Gentoo on really sucky hardware that was made for Win98 only (not good enough for any other Windows), and had good use out of it as a desktop with a real OS on it.
Owen On Fri, 2006-01-13 at 22:16 -0500, Matt Pusateri wrote: > The downside to Gentoo is that it is mostly a complile from source > distro, so your old clunker laptop may take longer than you would like > to compile :) > > Matt P. > > On Wed, January 11, 2006 10:36 pm, Randall Barlow wrote: > > Cristobal Palmer wrote: > > > >> > >>I know that there are people on the list who are actively using > >> gentoo > >>in production environments, so can one of you give a more complete > >>argument for why the customization is easier? > >> > > I don't know that I would say that the customization of Gentoo is > > really > > easy necessarily, but *you* make the system the way *you* want it to > > be. Gentoo is not for the casual user, or the new Linux convert for > > sure. But the installation process is great for someone who wants to > > learn more about Linux, or even computers for that matter. > > > >> Does a gentoo install > >>start out significantly smaller? > >> > > YES!!! Well, I don't know how it stacks up against DSL, but it's > > pretty > > freakin' small on a base install because that's exactly what you get > > with Gentoo - a base install. You compile your kernel, install the > > basic Linux tools, yada yada, reboot, and bam you're at a blinking > > prompt. It's small, but you can still choose to add more (X windows, > > yada yada). Of course, most any distribution will allow you to do a > > stripped down install, but most of them don't compile from source. As > > Jason pointed out, the USE flags are great for trimming down the > > packages, and this is something you won't get with any binary based > > distribution. What you will NOT trim down is install time because > > compiling all those packages can take a loooong time (binaries are > > much > > faster to install for sure). > > > >> Do those of you who use it know that > >>you would be compiling just about everything to begin with? > >> > > Well, yeah, compiling these is what gives you all the flexibility. If > > you don't use kde, don't compile support for kde in your apps > > (likewise > > if you don't use gnome). For example, the machine I'm typing this on > > is > > rather old and has no DVD drive, so I put "-dvd" in my use flags and > > all > > programs that would otherwise support DVDs don't now. If I later get > > a > > DVD drive, all I have to do is remove the minus in that USE flag and > > emerge --update --newuse --deep world (well, and wait possibly a long > > time :)) and bam, DVD support. The same goes for compiling your own > > kernel. Of course you can do this in any distribution, but the point > > is > > that Gentoo is made with customization in mind! > > > >> Give me > >>some arguments that'll inspire me to give gentoo a shot on _my_ old > >>clunker laptop. > >> > >> > > How about trying it as a challenge to learn new stuff? Seriously, I > > learned a lot just in the install process. I do actually use it on my > > $WORK machine as well (a Sun workstation), and it's been good for that > > as well. I suppose I'd say that Gentoo is a good "hobbyist" Linux > > distribution though. Sometimes you just need your machine to work > > with > > no hassles, and you may not get that very easily with Gentoo. But if > > you're interested in learning a lot, and you have an old clunker and > > some free time, give it a whirl! > > > > -- > > Randy Barlow > > Research Assistant > > Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering > > North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
