Third Distro Gentoo!
The third distro I tried was Gentoo. This one was more of the inner (and not so inner) geek in me asserting itself. This distribution is source based, and you have the option of compiling the entire thing so that it is completely optimized to your system. I couldn't resist the challenge to see if I could pull it off. As a side note this is not for the squeamish, but I have to admit Gentoo has the best documentation for installation I've ever seen in a Linux distro. All you really need to do is follow the instructions step by step, and you will have a completely optimized system.
It took quite a bit to do the entire compile, another reason for the squeamish to be sure this what they want to do. I was more wowed by the fact that I actually just compiled my entire operating system, and setup my drive and the whole nine yards. It was really cool. For those who don't need that much tweaking there are partially pre-compiled, and fully pre-compiled stages as they're called available to install.
Gentoo uses a rather unique packaging system called Portage, which takes a nod from the BSD Ports. It's a really neat system, that grabs the source code needed and compiles everything you need. So no more package hunts like I do with Mandrake (rpm.pbone.net is my friend)
If you want a highly optimized distribution this is the distribution for you. Just keep in mind if you're going to compile the whole thing from scratch, be prepared to wait a while. The pre-compiled stage (stage 3) is excellent though for most users. The only reason I went with stage 1 was the opportunity to compile the whole works, just for the experience of it.
Over all this one was probably the most fun for me, but alas I had to go with what we're using for work. Considering I get to work from home though I am not complaining in the least. Mandriva is not a bad distribution by any stretch of the imagination. It's a very well put together distribution, and next time I'm going to talk about my experience with Mandriva (Mandrake 10.0 at the time) and some things I learned about it, so that you don't have the same glitches I have encountered should you choose to go with it.
See you next time!
-NT
It took quite a bit to do the entire compile, another reason for the squeamish to be sure this what they want to do. I was more wowed by the fact that I actually just compiled my entire operating system, and setup my drive and the whole nine yards. It was really cool. For those who don't need that much tweaking there are partially pre-compiled, and fully pre-compiled stages as they're called available to install.
Gentoo uses a rather unique packaging system called Portage, which takes a nod from the BSD Ports. It's a really neat system, that grabs the source code needed and compiles everything you need. So no more package hunts like I do with Mandrake (rpm.pbone.net is my friend)
If you want a highly optimized distribution this is the distribution for you. Just keep in mind if you're going to compile the whole thing from scratch, be prepared to wait a while. The pre-compiled stage (stage 3) is excellent though for most users. The only reason I went with stage 1 was the opportunity to compile the whole works, just for the experience of it.
Over all this one was probably the most fun for me, but alas I had to go with what we're using for work. Considering I get to work from home though I am not complaining in the least. Mandriva is not a bad distribution by any stretch of the imagination. It's a very well put together distribution, and next time I'm going to talk about my experience with Mandriva (Mandrake 10.0 at the time) and some things I learned about it, so that you don't have the same glitches I have encountered should you choose to go with it.
See you next time!
-NT
posted by Nerdtek at 5:40 p.m.
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