Slack users, you have to try Gentoo
 

Hey all,

I am here to push for a different distribution that truly is the best package of Linux I have ever used. Some of you probably have heard of it, but its called Gentoo.

Gentoo shares some qualities of LFS and Slackware. It is akin to LFS because you build/compile all the packages on your system from scratch. It is akin to Slackware because of the configurability and total lack of bloat.

The thing that separates Gentoo from both of these is it's amazing package management system called Portage. Portage is much like Debian's apt in that you can update the system with one command. Portage checks it's database (which is local on your HD and can be updated through portage itself) and then goes online to certain mirrors (which you can specify) and then: downloads, configures, compiles, and installs the package (like Fink for MacOSX).

I don't know about you but this is exactly what I was looking for. I was using Slack for about a year and the only thing that really bothered me was that it was a pain to update all the software on the system. The package management system was decent, but lacked flexibility and usefulness.

No-Bloat + WYBIWYG (What You Build Is What You Get) + Great-Package-Managment = Gentoo my main distro

Check it out at www.gentoo.org

I've never had a problem with this...quite effortless if you know how.
This can also be done with Slack...
Ever hear of Swaret?

Sounds nice...but honestly, everything you've described can also be done with Slack...and it's much easier than some may think.

do they pay you to write (or copy and paste) that stuff? i'd be quite sure that most on-the-ball slack users will be pretty well aware of gentoo though.

FYI portage is actually a clone of BSD's ports system...

Gentoo is nice but you run into some serious bugs on occasion.Today I went from gcc3.1 to gcc3.2.2 and got rid of gcc3.1 and guess what?I was left without a compiler.Thats pretty much a desaster with a distro like gentoo.I did find the compiler and got it to work after some reaserch at the gentoo forums (you might want to check there before you do major stuff anyway).The compiler doesn't go to /bin anymore but /usr/lib/bla/somewhere but nobody bothered to tell the system about it in the ebuild.Gentoo definitely got trouble since it became too popular.

Always use the -p flag and if there is a new compiler, avoid it for a week or two. Then you should be safe (in my experience).

The Gentoo mailing list is invaluable for gentoo.

I boot into gentoo as much as redhat now and I think redhat will soon be free space on my drive. Maybe debian? A bsd?

Damned thing dtill doesn't work - something about python libs it can't find,aaargh.The -p flag wouldn't be of any use with the gcc thing because it just tells you that it will install gcc and gcc-config.Unfortunately gcc-config doesn't config.
BTW: Where is Sparta? I was running around in North Carolina (mostly the west - Charlotte/Greensboro/Spartanburg Triangle) for years.

It's in the NW corner, 10 miles to the VA line and one county over from Tennessee.

Visit the map and zoom out.

I did a full -deep update day before yesterday and it broke nothing that I have found yet.

Thats a cool map thing there.Wilkesboro and Hickory was the closest I got.I think something was wrong with the tarball I got.Did for the first time an install with a stage3 tarball - normally I compile from scratch - and got errors that g++ can't create executables.Thats how the whole mess with new gcc started anyway - I'll figure it out.

No, thanks. Open a Gentoo Forum :) I tried Gentoo and was disapointed. If I want a *BSD, I'd install one. But I want GNU/Linux and not a hybrid.

I found my oasis and your smoke and mirrors cannot trick me into leaving :D

I use slack because I like how it works. I like what I have to do to update packages, I like it's pkgtool, I like it's documentation, I like it's straight forwardness, I like it's init scripts, I like it's name, I like it's logo, I like it's simplicity, I like the packages that come with it, I like it's "feeling", I like Slack for more reasons than a package upgrade system (which is a horrible thing if you ask me). I think that if I want to update/upgrade one of my packages that I will, and I will compile the package myself, see what's going on, edit the Makefile to my tastes, watch what's happening and install it. I don't like package upgrade systems, they break more than they fix IMO.

:)

Gentoo is fine... If you haven't tried Slack ;)

Cool

I installed Gentoo once. It was okay. I'll usually compile all my stuff myself. Some people like distro's that can take care of dependancies. I went emerge BitchX and it installed Gnome. I left to go to the movies. Come back, and my / partition is full. Debian did this to me too. If I see Program A needs Library B, I'll install Library B, and then go to install Program A. Not to mention, makepkg can be your friend. Compile, make a package. Then you can easily remove it later.

So - how do you compile bitchx without gnome libs? I always wanted to do that.

I don't use bitchx, but maybe you can tell ./configure to disable gnome by ./configure --disable-gnome or something?

Cheers!

Several attempts to get Gentoo to install failed. Slackware setup the first time flawlessly.

Just a thought...maybe this thread should be named...
"Gentoo users, you have to try Slackware..."

Sorry, couldn't resist :)