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Gentoo 2005.0: A Live CD And [No] Graphical Installer
Sunsetbeach writes "zdnet.co.uk reports in this article that 'The next version of Gentoo, 2005.0, will also include a graphical installer that will allow users to automatically install the same set-up of Gentoo on multiple machines, according to Gianelloni.' " The article distinguishes the upcoming live disk from the (available) Gentoo Live CD; the new one will contain a fully functioning system ala Knoppix. Update: 11/30 23:09 GMT by M : Gentoo now has a clarification posted; the next Gentoo release will not have a graphical installer, although it is planned for the future.
Over the years I've been using gentoo, I've noticed that it has become MUCH more userfriendly. The documentation has improved dramatically, and now there's a graphical installer. Will this increase gentoo's install base?
-b0lt
got sig?
One of the best things about Gentoo for me (the performance difference was negligble) besides portage, was the bootstrapping process. I know it took forever, but you actually are learning more about linux. Redhat (my first *nix) hid everything, and slackware (my second love) gave me a little more access. Only gentoo allowed me to see (and attempt to understand) a true view of the install.
It'll be great!
I like Gentoo for its customisability. All the other distros are hell bent on throwing in everything which is great, but uses up so much RAM. I've seen SuSE use a full gig before just running KDE. With Gentoo I can leave all the little things I don't want out.
It'll be fantastic to have the scripted installer too. You can only write the fstab and grub.conf so many times before it becomes less fun.
You don't actually provide a valid reason why it's not a "*really* good to have many more people" use Gentoo. The explanation I see implied from your condescending post is that you're afraid you won't look "1337" if too many people start using your distro of choice.
Live-CDs aren't only good for test Linux, but Live-Cds are wonderful rescue Cds and make Linux-boxes where only windows is available.
I usually use Slax because it fits on a small 8cm CD-RW.
Gentoo it's another Live CD to add to the list whatever I can i'm goint to test this one.
My city: Barcelona.
No, it won't.
If you really want a rock stable system FreeBSD is still the way to go, as great as gentoo is, it can't compete in this area.
You'll also still have to compile all the software for your system, something you don't have to do, but can do using FreeBSD.
And of course there are many people that think that the BSDs have some security functionality gentoo or linux in general still lacks, e.g.: jails.
Finally, it is simply beyond me why you think that anything killing FreeBSD is a good thing. If gentoo fits your needs better than FreeBSD, use it, but what do you think gentoo or anyone else would gain from destroying FreeBSD?
Don't you just love it how first posts are always modded redundant. I mean, all you did was make a comment. You expressed your opinion. I wonder, what is it that the moderator expected ?
I've noticed a lot of redundant mods lately, and negative mods in general. I think Slashdot should attach statistics to each story showing the percentage of positive versus negative mods. I would also like to see these statistics for editors, who have unlimited mod points. We should get to see how they were meta-modded as well. On one final note, Slashdot needs a forum to discuss issues like this, so that people don't have to resort to offtopic posts.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
I, myself, am fairly newbieish (a couple of years using linux, certainly no toothy, beared old UNIX veteran); but I found Gentoo, contingent upon RTFM and a little ingenuity, to be the easiest to fully install. When I use the term fully install, I mean install, finalize and gain complete control over. Things that could use improvement: 1) Fonts 2) Stupid, Bloody X configuration. Should be in Installation Docs not Desktop section. Many hours of frustration.
This is a receipt for $0.02 expended upon "My Opinion." Please retain for tax purposes.
You know how it is, there are probably benchmarks floating around proofing it, as there are probably other benchmarks showing that it isn't true.
;-D
./ telling people how cool they are and how fast their computers are running gentoo but believe me, they are not representative of the gentoo community and they annoy me as a long time gentoo user as much as they annoy the other people around here.
From my personal experience I can say that no, you won't notice a considerable speed increase compared to other modern distros, at least not on the desktop. I haven't tried slackware lately, but right now I'm also running Ubuntu and it doesn't seem slower than my gentoo install.
I can only repeat it again and again, if you really want to see a performance boost, get better hardware.
I think there is a general problem with your question though, gentoo isn't really about speed increase, there is a lot more to it. I know that there are a lot of people running around in online communities like
Finally, if you really want to give gentoo a try, don't do it for the false reasons. Don't do it because you feel provoked by the kiddies I just described and want to prove them wrong, do it because you are interested in trying out a new system and you think that gentoo could be a distribution that fits you needs.
Yes, actually, he did:
I mean that gentoo isn't an easy to handle distro, you have to spend time to understand it and able to use it.
Because installing Gentoo currently is about 2 steps away from installing LFS, you simply cannot do it without learning a LOT about GNU/Linux at a very low level. If you want to install Gentoo, you MUST invest the time to learn how everything works. This frankly provides an idiot barrier to the support community. The only people who can ask questions about Gentoo are those who have made it through the installation. As of right now, you can ask a question on the Gentoo forum and get a useful answer usually within minutes. If you ask a question on the Mandrake forum, it disappears into a black hole of untold thousands of forever unanswered posts. Once the number of utterly clueless users exceeds the ability of the community to disseminate knowledge, support goes underground - with answers only trading hands among people who've made contact with the gurus by some means beyond simply showing up and asking questions.
Gentoo's current installation process makes it impossible to have a functioning system without knowing the following:
- How partition and disk structure works
- How GCC actually functions
- How the kernel is installed and configured
- At least something about runlevels and init scripts
I don't think it is unreasonable for this to be minimum knowledge to access support.In response to your comment: have you actually read (even just) the title of the article in discussion?
Secondly, he provided a reason why incompetent people should not use Gentoo, not a reason why "many more" people shouldn't use it, unless you both assume that the only people with any intelligence are already using Gentoo, which would make you very arrogant.
2 steps away from LFS? Hardly. Having installed both systems, and actively maintained my LFS system, I can tell you right now that Gentoo's gotta be about 5 steps away at the very least. /dev entries, the list goes on.
Gentoo: No checking source code for errors, no manual patch application, no having to write your own initscripts, no having to tweak your
Too much repetition my too much repetition!
The gentoo fanboy community can't have it both ways.
1. Requiring intimate kernel-level knowledge of a system to install it.
2. Shouting 'use gentoo!' to every passerby who expresses any sort of question about another distro (like, how do I install an RPM? or something similar).
It's like people saying Macs are the bestest most awesomest systems ever, but that they're also cheaper than x86 alternatives. It doesn't work both ways.
Be content with having a difficult-to-install system that forces people to learn more than most people would want. That's fine. But don't shout that as the answer to every single problem as well - most people don't have the time or motivation to do that.
creation science book
Not really. You can print up the Gentoo instructions and follow along with exactly what they say to type in.
The danger is that people who set up their systems by typing the install directions in verbatim will actually not configure those systems optimally due to a misunderstanding. A GUI installer would help avoid the perils of people getting in a bit over their head and failing to accomplish something simple, such as installing to a hard drive that does not happen to be hda.
Amazing magic tricks
If you've got X amount of RAM, then you're getting value for money if you are using it all! What is important is that the right app has it at the right time.
After an emerge, the system would either do no updating so I must manually update the config files, or it would update all the files automatically, overwriting everything, including the users file so all my accounts no longer existed (including root).
Until they can find a way to do an "automatic, unattended smart append" to the config files after an emerge, I won't switch to it on my thirteen PCs and two notebooks.
On the other hand, a graphical installer is, IMHO, a bad idea. This allows any dork off the street to say that he's installed Gentoo and now even know what Linux is. Bad idea.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
I admit I struggled with the install my first couple of times. Having a graphical installer is something that will only help Gentoo get more users. Good Job.