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Sorcerer Review, and News of Impending Doom
osworks writes: "There is an review of the Sorcerer Linux distribution over at linuxworld.com that is worth a read. I've been running SGL on my Inspiron for a month now, and have the same impression as the author. It took a really long time to install, but was educational and rather fun. Some discouraging news near the bottom about how the maintainer needs some development help, or it will be the end of Sorcerer. This is one of the most exciting new distros to come along in a long time, and that would be a shame."
I tried installing sorcerer back when it was first mentioned here a few months ago. And I had nothing but problems (firstly that it wanted an internet connection for getting kernel patches before it had any idea how to connect to the internet (and it didn't want to sidestep this part) and then that its version of lilo wasn't really made for being in the MBR).
Anyways, has anyone tried it sence, have these problems been fixed yet?
Like the submitter I have been using Sorcerer for a little over a month. This distro is exactly what I have been looking for.
For one, I don't know if it is the optimized compiles, or the fact that it is a bare minimum system, but KDE feels fast!
The project is in need of assistance. If you haven't tried it, give it a weekend, and you too will hope that this project does not die. The author has a paypal account linked to his email address.
Spencer Ogden
Sorcerer is nice but its not as nice as Gentoo. I've used them both and I'll be sticking with Gentoo. http://www.gentoo.org/
I've been running this one my inspiron also, for about two weeks, and love it. This thing is excellent. The only thing I don't like is how the everybody (the maintainer especially) won't stop talking about how doomed it is. Hello, sure it's tough to get started, and find help, but don't say "It's doomed" after every sentence! I think Kyle has done an excellent job, and I understand his reasons for trying to get help. I'm doing what I can. But quit it with the doom and gloom all the time!
Both are source-based distros. Gentoo uses a Python and bash-based package system, influenced by the bsd ports system. It handles required dependencies automatically, and chooses optional ones based on a config file--you indicate if you want kde functionality in your apps, for example. Sorcery just prompts you for each dependency.
That comparison is typical for the approaches to the two distros. Sorcery asks/tells everything in a very straightforward way. Gentoo is more automatic.
On the other hand, Gentoo doesn't really have an installer at this point, just a shell and a bunch of well-written instructions.
At this point I prefer Sorcery, because no other distro has made me feel like I really knew exactly what was going on with my box.
What everyone failes to mention is the self healing ability of sorcerer which is IMHO its biggest strength. Doing #cast --fix will verify all applications on your system, recompile the once whose depandancies have changed, put back in place missing files and symlinks.
One of the big challanges for sorcerer was upgrade from db3 to db4. That one tooked me 2 #cast --fix till system self healed. Try doing this with any other distro and see what happens.
It would really be a shame if SGL stopped getting support. I switched from Mandrake a month ago and I'm more than satisfied with the results. Yes, the install is more difficult and time consuming, but it was worth it for the experience I got out of it. I now have an intricate knowledge about how the inner details of linux works.
I also believe that their method of installing applications is better than any binary install system out there (apt-get/rpm). Although it may take a bit longer to compile things, they're installed *right* and are compiled specific for your architecture. All dependencies are automagically downloaded, compiled, and installed without any user interaction (although you can interact if you want).
No other distro provides more control, flexibility, or ease of use better than sorcery. I hope it doesn't go away.
'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.' -HST
I've found Gentoo to be really good.
:)
I just installed it last week. I was tossing up between Gentoo and Sorceror but went with Gentoo because Gentoo has lower minimum requirements. The machine it's installed is only a Celeron 300 with 128M of Ram. And then the disk of only 6Gig. If you take the Sorceror requirement of 1Gig of swap that is a large portion of my disk.
It wasn't easy to install (I still don't have sound but thats because I don't know what sort of sound card I have) and there have been a few problems but generally it's been excelent. I managed to get the basic linux install going with no problems. KDE and X was as simple as typing 'emerge KDE'. The next day I had a working desktop system.
I recommend it.
The other reason why I didn't go with Sorceror is because commands like 'cast' and so on just strike me as kind of immature. It's a distro for all those D and D geeks. It's a petty reason I know, but I'm a picky guy.
IIRC, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was told to change his name, he said something like: "It takes a little effort to remember, but once they do, they'll never forget it."
I find the acronyms and "cute names" for some of the UNIX-style utilities to be the same way; they require a little more explanation to tie the meaning together with the word, but (like all good mnemonics) they make up for it by staying longer in the brain.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
dunno, i thought the gimp was cute.
i note that you used the word google assuming we'd all know you meant "a search engine"....
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