Hello, I am thinking of using Gentoo, and I have a few questions. I figure that this is the best place to ask. If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would really appreciate it.
1) How complete is the set of ebuilds? For reference: I consider Mandrake and RedHat to be fairly complete distributions. They carry most of what anyone would want. 2) How quickly do ebuilds follow new code releases? Will I always be stuck a version behind or will I be able to try out new stuff soon after it comes out? 3) One thing I like about Debian's apt-get is that once you have Debian installed, you can upgrade to new versions without having to reinstall. This is in contrast to RPM distros. If I have RedHat 7.3, the best way to move to 8.0 is to backup my data, wipe the disk and reinstall. Is Gentoo like Debian in this respect? 4) How easy is it to create my own ebuilds? I often like to install from source, but I'd like to keep the benefits of package management. 5) Is Gentoo really that much faster? Will it make a greater difference on an old computer (think P133) or on a new computer (think Athlon XP/MP)? Thanks for the help. I am very interested in Gentoo, and any information would be much appreciated. -- Daniel Carrera Graduate Teaching Assistant. Math Dept. University of Maryland. (301) 405-5137 -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
