I AM A NEWB. Congrats for me. I am trying to install Gentoo Linux. I have the tar files of both stages 2 and 3 and their associated .bz2 files. I know nothing. I am confused. What do i do now? Im stupid, sorry.

hmm, read
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handboo...ook.xml?part=1
?

what is knoppix for? do i need it?

if i use knoppix or live-cd will i need to boot from a CD every time?

Knoppix is another distro, purely CD based, yes you need to boot with Knoppix CD every time you use it, but its possible to do a hd installation.
If you're refering to the Gentoo live-cd, no there's no need to boot it after its installed.

Personally I don't think it is a good idea for a newbie to install gentoo... but if you insist, please go ahead. The Gentoo Installation Guide is superb, but I just cant wait for the programs to compile... :P

If you would like to find another newbie-friendly distro, go to http://www.distrowatch.com/. I suggest Slackware.

doesn't slackware take about 2 days ton install? thats what i heard at least.

Also, what do i need to install it? i download the live-cd files. Then put them on a CD? what do i do with the tarball files?

It's Gentoo that (can) take 2 days to install. Slack takes about a half-hour to a couple of hours depending on how much you install.

The Slack Live-CD isn't something you install (at least the last version I had). To install Slack you need disk 1 and maybe 2 of the iso set.

What tarballs? Even the live-cd is an iso. Unless there are other versions.

well, maybe i'll try Slack then
i also heard it was really complicated, but ill try it. i guarantee i'll need help later :-)

Actually, Slack is simpler than most distros - it's just that other distros hide their complexity whereas Slack is more transparent and tends to expect you to use fundamental *nix tools (with some help from Patrick's scripts) instead of GUI layers. It's easier to mess with Slack but you have to know more about how to do it. But the install is pretty straightforward and LQ can help you out. Gentoo's install isn't actually that bad but would probably be completely disorienting for a first install and would be real easy to screw up.

If you do install Slack, be sure to read the book at the website, or at least the part on installing - particularly the part on fdisk, if you're not familiar with Linux or DOS. It's no problem but tends to confuse people.

Nah, never mind!

regards

John

Now I'm curious. I've got half a line in my mail box and a 'never mind' here.

It was a rant about why I don't like slack.

to do with the fact that the original mandrake/knoppix - debian testing had been set up to be able to see each other and hence the filesystem checks.

I made a "pig's ear" of trying to install slack and it meant that I couldn't boot either - the rant was saying not to bother recommending slack to n00b's - on the basis that in the majority of cases, it seems better to recommend, erm probably mandrake.

The justification, well if the n00b installs a distro that will offer something similar to windows (after all, theyve probably come from an MS scenario), it is most encouraging and after a while, you get the hook.

If I'd had as much success as I have in getting gentoo (or slack for that matter) running i.e. not much then I think that I might have just given up and said f**k it and leave it to the nerds/geeks.

But I didn't and I think that's mainly to do with the relative success that I had with mandrake to start with.

You enjoy using your slack install - I think it's a f*****g c**t b*****d etc etc etc - but on reflection, only because I couldn't work it out.

Merry crimbo

regards

John

Ah. Well, mileage definitely does vary. Sorry your Slack didn't go so well. I actually *do* usually recommend Mandrake to new users who haven't decided on a distro at all but just know they don't want any trouble. But I do encourage people to try Slack if they already seem interested in something along those lines.

Hope the Gentoo thing's working out, at least. Gentoo's the first distro since Slack that's held my interest for any period of time. It helps that I put another Slack on a second box so I can keep it booted while I leave this one in Gentoo indefinitely. (Don't like to reboot.) If you have or get a second box, maybe give Slack another try sometime where it can't do any harm.

Happy holidays!

Do yourself a huge favor...forget Gentoo for now, and install Mandrake 9.2 instead.

Be sure to read the errata page first.

Mandrake is -NOT- just a toy. It is a serious distro for serious people. It just happens to be (by design) an excellent first distro. There is nothing you can do in another distro that you can't do in Mandrake.

Mandrake is one of the top 10 servers on the internet much of the time.

But Gentoo or Slackware are definitely distros for later.