Gentoo 1.4 Final Released

markds writes "After a long wait, the Gentoo team has finally released the latest version of their distribution. Gentoo Linux 1.4 is now available. 1.4 includes automated kernel builds, CFLAGS generation, the Gentoo Reference Platform, and support for netless installation." And Beost writes "It looks like our favorite disto gentoo has released two of the new v1.4 LiveCDs. Enjoy!" Reader Luke-Jr points to the list of official mirrors and "unofficial (though created by developers) BitTorrents." (Of course, you can also buy CD sets for a variety of architectures from the Gentoo store.)

Comments

I don't mean to whore....but....

[mao che minh]

For 80% of the responses Most people that read this article will say to themselves "Gen-what? Big deal, my *insert distro here* has already done all of that!" or "Wow, so some Linux distro does a few things that *insert Mac or Windows version* has been doing for months, or even years".

Just keep in mind this much: Whether you are a Red Hat user, a Mandrake enthusiast, or a Slackware zealot, we have all "been there". And like it or not, distros like Gentoo and Debian keep hope alive and stay true to the Linux and open source "roots".

No, I am not a Debian or Gentoo user. In fact I am a Red Hat and Windows 98 user. I recognize valiant efforts and righteous grass roots development movements when I see them, however, and I pay my respect and homage to them.

So, despite how bad this post may come off as a karma whore (and you all know that I love to write karma whores), just keep in mind that it is people like the Gentoo team that have made Linux the phenomenon that it is. OK, feel free to mod me down now.

Re:I don't mean to whore....but....

[EvilStein]

"My primary experience with Linux in the home has been SuSE, and I know I'm going to find Gentoo painful to start up and might even go back to SuSE at this stage in the game."

Don't say that just yet. I was in the same boat but after following the directions and asking the friendly folks on the gentoo-user mailing list and forums.gentoo.org, I easily found everything I needed, and life is good. :)

Re:I don't mean to whore....but....

[bogie]

"just keep in mind that it is people like the Gentoo team that have made Linux the phenomenon that it is"

Err not really. Gentoo came along way way after linux became a "phenomenon". Its also very much a minority distro. If you want to thank someone, thank Slackware, Red Hat, and Debian who have been giving and giving for years now.

Nothing against Gentoo, but let's give credit where credit it due. It's going to be a long time before Gentoo can be lumped in with the above distros.

Re:I don't mean to whore....but....

[arkane1234]

They said "people like the Gentoo team".
Not the Gentoo team, themselves.
They're right, it was people who wanted to better Linux, make it more configurable and give the user more options.

good news!

[dcstimm]

I want to thank Drobbins, Seemant, and All the gentoo developers! Thanks for your hard work for makeing linux even better!

Please support gentoo by going to gentoo.org and buying the livecds...

The number on reason for using Gentoo...

[Dante333]

Its a great learning exprience. I learned more about linux installing gentoo (way back in the old days when it was still using gcc 2.95) than using Red Hat for a year. It may take a while to install and update, but it does teach you whats what on a linux system. That and portage just rocks. There is even a NWN ebuild

Re:Gentoo Trolls

[lightcycle]

I'd have to agree, but add that there also is a fair amount of anti-gentoo trolling in connection with every gentoo related story on /.
Gentoo has strong and weak points, just as every other distro, and just as every other distro it isn't for everyone. This gentoo/anti-gentoo trolling is counterproductive as well as ashaming to every serious linux user, and I would like to see the discussion hitched up just a few notches above the sandbox level it's currently at. If we could do that, a balanced discussion might help users find the distribution best suited to their needs. After all, having choices will only benefit linux.
Oh well, end rant...

Re:Ask And Ye Shall Receive. . .

[Xabraxas]

It doesn't, it's just a time consuming load of hogwash leet wannabees jump onto to say 'I use a source distro!'

Must

Not

Feed

The

Trolls!

Oh I just can't help it. First of all...NO. You'd be surprised to find out that there are many experienced Linux users using Gentoo. It's about choice and it's about control. Gentoo gives its users the most fine grained control of any Linux distro and it does it in a very usable way. See my sig for details.

Gentoo does force a lot of people to learn more about Linux than they do whether they like it or not. This is not to say that it's not possible with other distros but there are no gui utilities for Gentoo and so the users are forced to use the CLI much more and are forced to edit config files much more, giving them a crash course education in Linux. Whether this is the best way or not is debatable, but whether or not people tend to learn more with Gentoo, well, that is not debatable. Read the forums. Personally I'm happy that a lot of newbies are jumping in with Gentoo and learning a lot more off the bat than they would with Red Hat or Mandrake. To each his own. Let's not fight about distros, at least we're all using Linux.

I don't think it's fashionable to use Gentoo although it seems quite fashionable to bash Gentoo.

Reverse dependencies

[normalperson]

Is unmerging a package safe yet?

Do packages that depend on the package I'm unmerging also get unmerged automatically or do they stay installed (and broken?)

Of course, I tend to like to try out new software on a whim a lot and frequently install something to use for a few hours before I decide whether or not it's worth keeping on my system (usually not).

Oh Please...

[Kjella]

While the contributing code was perhaps localized at first, it's impossible to know how the code /around/ it would have evolved had their IP never been introduced. All of Linux from that point on is tainted by their code, and thus is their IP.

That's about as realistic as the MS programming monkey that once copy-pasted two lines of Linux 0.01 into Windows would now make all of Windows the IP of Mr. Linus.

Derivative works are more than just inspiration, I can't create a story in the Star Wars universe but I can certainly make one in a *different* galaxy far far away. It's not like any other story involving being in another galaxy would be "tainted" and the IP of George Lucas, just because I saw the movie.

Kjella