geento install help
 

I want to check out geentoo , I have hear nothing but good things about geentoo
I download a image from linuxiso.org and burn it. is a live cd and suppost to be a install cd also.

I read the docs in the distro website ( not good ones very confusing)
I am wondering if any of you can please tellme a clear way how to install geentoo.

thanks all.

well, gentoo actually has some of the most detailed install docs around. i tried it a few months ago and got suck on x configuration (something not in the docs) ... now i know a little better and might try it again.

I find it a bit rude to give you a RTFM, but I there are 2 really good tutorials about installing gentoo:

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-install.xml
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handboo...ook.xml?part=1

Basically, it works like this:
- you should have a Linux system running. Whether this is knoppix, a livecd, another already installed distro doens't really matter. (the handbook however, gives you some notes when installing from knoppix)

Decide what stage you want your install to start. I've begun with stage1, and it's isn't hard. It takes quite some time to install, because it needs to compile everything.. including your C-compiler. (and my machine has downloaded 1.5 gig of source code already)

You need to partition your disks, follow the installation guides. They recommend to use a /boot, swap and one big root partition. Then extract the stage tarbals in that folder.

The coolest part begins:
- enter the chroot. A chrooted process (your shell in this case) runs with a different folder as root. it allows you to install gentoo while you're running your current linux system in a different root.
- I also recommend to use the screen command. it allows you to logout without canceling the installation.

To do this at once:
Then, you can use Ctrl+A+D to detach/leave the screen, and type "screen -r" to resume it. If you type "ps auxf", you'll notice that this screen command keeps running in the background.

Once in the chroot/screen, you can start the installation. (I could give some steps, but this would mean I'd summarize the manual) The important thing, is setting the compiler options in /etc/make.conf. (search google for recommended settings)

Remember, if you start from stage1, you need to compile everything. This includes your choice of crontab, syslogger, installing tools like "sudo", or "lspci", samba, cups for printing, an editor (vim perhaps?), xfree, kde, gnome, openoffice, a kernel, bootmanager, etc.. The manual however, gives some advices for the different choices.


Before you install (emerge) a piece of software, use the -pv switch. (which is a short for --pretend, --verbose) You'll see the options of each component. To include a certain option type:
...until your satisfied with the result. Then remove the -pv switch, and take a break, read a book, etc...



when you're done, gentoo makes your life really easy: "emerge -u world" is used to upgrade, and "emerge ..." is all you need to do to install new software. (try -pv first).

this is the coolest part:
that's all :D ..and that command also pulls games-fps/unreal-tournament from portage ;)

good luck :)

hmm, just a quick question, does that ebuild contain all the files needed to play (so no cd needed?).
and btw balam, if you found the install docs on gentoo.org too difficult to understand, id recommend installing another distro ;)

im downloading it now, but ill have to see if i can find my cd if i need it, i may have lost it :(

[edit]
never mind, i found the cd and it installed very easily with portage :)
and its also like 5x faster than on xp with the same setup :D
[/edit]

I think gentoo has very good doc's.
And they come in many languages.

It's true that gentoo is hard to install for newbies.
I'd recommend starting with another distro before switching to gentoo.