I actually like the fact that the install procedure is a process, rather than a bunch of yes/no/other answers.
The install method is an excellent way to "get my hands dirty" doing a linux install. Otherwise (insert the name of a gui install distro here) installs are just that, stick in cd, boot, yes/no/other answers, done. Nothing is learned, at least during a gentoo install, I learn about the nittygritty right off the bat.
Gentoo's install method, though arcane, complex, long, frustrating, magical, mysterious - always ends up for me being a tailored, powerful, installed system. Gentoo fits the bill for me, and I will not use any other distro. Other than to play with it, and see how they tailored their X environment.
If I dont need to implement a (insert network service here) *right now* then gentoo is my solution, if I need to spin up something *right now* then I look elsewhere, either a BSD variant, or a Windows solution.
For those that complain about the lack of an installer, imho are missing the whole point of customization. For the times when issues do pop up, the gentoo forums are an incredible source of information, regardless of distro.
And besides, installing the beast is half the fun for me anyways.
Nothing says "It was worth it to me" to take a month to get gentoo installed on a dual P90, without distcc! Installing is half the fun! When else do I get to spend so much intimate time with a server? Once installed, only maintenance duties are required.
Cheers Chris
On Nov 18, 2004, at 11:15, Jason Louie wrote:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:55:23 -0700, Niels Voll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:wow - you Gentoo guys have patience fit for a saint !
...Niels
I'd agree. My first and only experience with Gentoo was over a year ago. Before that I've used RedHat6.x-7.x and Mandrake8-9. I was installing on a P200 with 128mb ram. I wanted optimize what I could so thus Gentoo was my descision. Even with the beautiful documentation Gentoo had I still had some small issues with the install... nothing I couldn't handle, (but I found it odd where the installation would fail at diffrent places each time). However the thing that got me was that after a month of install Gentoo I still didn't have a working web server, (a month of spending 1 - 2 hours almost every night.) After a month I finially got fed up and decided to give another distro a whirl. Out came the SuSE FTP install and having never tried SuSE before it took me less than 1/2 hour to have a functional webserver with very few unneeded packages installed. I have since moved to Debian, (debootstrap install via knoppix.)
My thoughts on Gentoo is that the system would be very nice on a fast machine but on a slower machine, (the machines that need the speed optimization,) it takes *WAY* too much time to install.
I might try Gentoo again down the road but only when installs would be less painful.
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