Gentoo or Linux From Scratch?
 

Hi!

After all the trouble I've had installing Linux you'd think I'd stick with just one distro. Nope! I've caught the distro-hopping bug and want to try either Gentoo or Linux From Scratch dual booted from my Sonar Linux system.

What are the differences between Gentoo and Linux From Scratch in installation and package management? And anything else I should know?

There is no package management in LFS. Both are hard to set up and maintain when compared to others distros and for a newbie would probably be too much for you. With LFS you have to compile all the software you wish to use and follow the instructions carefully, it will take you many hours to set it up and have a working desktop. Gentoo has package management, but you still have to compile software and once again could take you a very long time to log into a working system aside from the time spent configuring it.

I would recommend sticking to something like Arch if you want to be adventurous as it's a binary distro, but still allows for great customisation.

Um . . ., ah . . .
LFS is not a distribution. It provides the tools to create a system. It is probably a good idea to visit the LFS and Gentoo websites for some information.

As the old saying goes: "Don't run before you can walk."

Linux From Scratch is basically a teaching tool. When you've finished (days, if not weeks), you have your own private Linux distro … with no bug fixes or security updates, apart from the ones available from the developers of the software you compiled! To actually use the result and keep it up to date, you'd have to do all the work nromally done by a team of developers who produce an independent distros. But the process of creating that distro will teach you a vast amount about Linux (provided you actually finish).

Gentoo involves compiling everything, but it's more a problem of time than difficulty. The theory is that the result will be customised for your computer. That, of course, depends on your knowing which compiler flags to set and to what, and it's doubtful that you'll notice any difference in the result anyway. Linus was once asked if he'd ever used Gentoo, and he replied that he couldn't see the point. But some people swear by it.

I would agree with basica...Unless you really know what you're doing, it might be better to try out something like Arch.

What distro are you using now?

I agree with Maples. Arch would be a good stepping stone on the way to something like Gentoo. You will learn a lot about how Linux works and have a supported distro when the install is done.

You might to do your distro-hopping in virtual machines. VMs make easy to try stuff out and discard it when you want to try something else. If you want to tackle LFS, I would definitely recommend doing so in a VM.

If you think that Gentoo is about using the best compiler-flags and and getting the best performance you seriously missed the point of Gentoo.
While having the ability to optimize is a nice side effect of any source based distro, this is not what Gentoo is about. Gentoo is more of a meta-distro than an actual distro, it is a framework that provides you with the necessary tools and flexibility to build your own distro that is using that software you want and leaves out anything you don't want, as far as possible.

Also, Gentoo is IMHO not harder to install and maintain than Arch.

I eventually want to move to Gentoo for the educational experience it offers. Thank you for the information, it has been useful to me.

I've been kicking around the Gentoo idea for more than a few months also but more out of boredom than anything else. If you decide to build a Gentoo system report back on how it worked out for you.

Thanks for the Arch recommendation. It sounds like a good distro to be adventuresome with and learn from while I still don't really know what I'm doing yet. Now if I could just get it to boot...

...to get it to boot, you have to manually download and install GRUB. The Arch wiki is full of info, you should take a look at the beginner's guide (I recommend using it even if you're experienced, it's amazing what you have to do that you usually don't think about)
https://wiki.archlinux.org

How about trying Slackware? IMO it's a bit easier than Arch. Have a look at SlackDocs, link in my signature.