good evening,

i'm a user of ubuntu and i think it's time for me to start a new adventure with linux especially source based distribution. So i tried to install gentoo and it seems to be difficult for someone like me, who is familiar with the easy graphical installer of ubuntu. And then i found calculate linux. I downloaded the scratch "flavor" and i successfully installed it in a virtual machine. Xorg seems to be installed by default and also openbox. i read about portage and how to install programs, and then i did an update to the portage tree and i emerged xfce4-meta whith the "minimal" use flag. The result was strange: I got a desktop with nothing but an (almost) empty panel with a minimalist menu and without any icon.Also, it used the pre-installed openbox instead of xfwm !!!
that's how my first day with calculate linux was. Now my questions are:
1- What is THE EASIEST way to install a minimalist yet fonctional desktop (gnome or xfce). I want to compile a minimal working desktop environment so that i can compile after that only the applications that i prefer to use.
2- I remember i read somewhere in the documentation that the update is done by executing the command: emerge -eDN world (correct me if i'm mistaken). But, is there a way to some packages non-updateable. For instence, if i gonna choose to install the gnome desktop, i prefer to continue using its second version rather than making the switch to gnome3. Other example, which is not a preference, but an obligation, is Xorg. The current version of Xorg is 7.4 . That's great, but there is a problem that i have to avoid : Xorg MUST NOT BE UPDATED because starting with the 7.6 version, my tv-out is no longer working.

These questions may be stupid but this is my first ever experience with calculate linux and source based distributions in general. Sorry that this post is too long but i tried to be as clear as possible so that you can help me.

thanks
good night

There is no EASY way to do that. If you're new to Linux, here is a lesson to you: whenever a Linux/Unix distribution claims to be "minimal," it really is, and won't do anything else to make your life easier. It doesn't care how difficult it will be for you to add apps and features to it. In fact, "minimal" distributions usually take pride in being difficult to improve. There is a very deeply rooted thing about Linux/Unix culture that absolutely believes that every user should dig his nose deep in manuals and learn everything about the inner works of the operating system, down to minute detail (which usually takes years). Installing a "minimal" distro is like going to a sado-maso-bondage party: you asked for the rough, you will get the rough. No complaints will be accepted.

Here is another part of this lesson: whenever a Linux/Unix distribution claims to be "simple," it means simple for whoever put it together. The user is left with the task of adding everything it needs to be completely functional, which is quite complicated. The packager/developer/maintainer didn't do a complete job of it, that's why it's called "simple." "Simple" is always a euphemism in Linux/Unix that means about the same as "minimalist," maybe worse.

What you want is absolutely possible, just don't expect it to be easy. People responsible for such "minimal" or "simple" setups have a deep dislike for "easy" to begin with. They think easy is either boring or even plain wrong. You are not getting any EASY from them.

Good luck.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi micronet,

you should try CLS, if you ask me: it is minimalistic, as it runs OpenBox by default; you can then install whatever you want. The only problem is that it has no GUI installer, but you have a good man page to instruct you ()

I am sure that easy and compile don't belong in the same sentence. lucmove is correct there.

Emerge is a tool for a small subset of distro's generally gentoo and a few others. Most distro's offer you a way to both update and to select how and what gets updated. Learning each disto takes some time so you just have to watch what you say yes to.

There are basically two paths. One is to just get a distro and the other is to build what you want. A disto has some advantages in that it is more tested, tends to have tools to update, and add in software and to keep errors out.

If you build it, then you alone control your fate.