On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 7:14 AM Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hund wrote: > > On June 1, 2021 3:38:30 PM GMT+02:00, n952162 <n952...@web.de> wrote: > >> 337 packages this month to be updated. It keeps getting more and more. > >> Pretty soon, gentoo will overtake Bitcoin in energy use. > >> > >> > > One might then ask why you have so many packages? And why you have a computer that consumes enough power for you to be worried about it? > > > > -- > > Hund > > > > > > > I was thinking along the lines of how many packages even binary distros > have to update. I've installed binary based distros before and when > updating those, there can be hundreds, several hundred, packages to > upgrade. Thing is, those same packages exist in Gentoo. If one has a > very similar set of packages installed, odds are, almost the same > packages will update in either a source based distro like Gentoo or in a > binary based distro. The only difference is Gentoo compiles from source. > > If one is really concerned about compile times or the amount of power > needed to run Gentoo up to date, then one has to question not the > updates but why use Gentoo?? While some large packages are available in > binary, Firefox, Libreoffice etc, the vast majority of Gentoo is > compiled from source. It's why most people use Gentoo, compile from > source with features set like you want. If one is limited in hardware > or power, Gentoo may not be a good option. > > Makes one think. > > Dale > > :-) :-)
I totally get why the Linux enthusiast or an IT guy tasked with specific requirements runs Gentoo. I did from 2001 through maybe early 2018. There are numerous reasons I moved from Gentoo to Kubuntu 3-4 years ago: - Kubuntu updates take, in general, less than 1 minute, almost never more than 5, with an average of 2-3/week. I don't believe I spend more than 10 minutes on average any week maintaining my machines. Most important to me is in 3-4 years not a single one has failed. Download a little binary, install, done. Distribution updates (major rev -> major rev) take less than an hour and this is once a year or two. They are so infrequent that I typically forget how to do them and have to go read instructions. - Maintaining a simple Gentoo install with no desktop from source wasn't bad but the KDE overhead on older laptops was insane for my needs. - I personally could not perceive any speed advantages in my daily life running Gentoo. I'm sure there would be some if I was into benchmarking but I'm not. - Gentoo lost its way (IN MY OPINION ONLY, and maybe it's better now) 4-5 years ago in terms of a simple 'stable' release. There was a time when I couldn't update without ~amd64-ing some packages. - I use two paid-for non-open source applications - Harrison Mixbus (based on Ardour) and PixInsight. It's WAY easier to get support when running the same distro these vendor runs and it's been a BIG help in my life to get that support. Sadly, I don't have nearly the knowledge of how things work under the hood on Kubuntu and the user level community is very quiet so I try to make general contributions here just to stay connected. This is still the best user group I know of. Friendly, informative experts. Just my 1.5 cents worth as I listen to Hunky Dory, Mark
