I just noticed something about the 2005.0 profile though.

Default USE settings are usually declared in /etc/make.profile/make.defaults, but in the 2005.0 profile this file does not seem to be there. I figure that would create a lot of problems on future installations, so did they move this file or is this a problem?

I actually do not know myself. From everything I've read changing that file results in an emerge --sync overwriting it so I don't worry about it.

I just modify /etc/portage/package.* files. I heavily modify the USE settings in /etc/make.conf to disable about everything that is enabled by default and just enable what I need for specific apps in /etc/portage/package.use. The rest of it the developers handle. By the time I would learn it they may change it in another profile.

Do you feel as if your question has been answered Harishankar? Just curious ...

Yes. I think that I am fairly confident now.

As I said earlier, I've deferred my upgrade to a later date because I'm busy with some work now in Gentoo and I cannot afford any problems.

Of course, once the work is done, I can upgrade safely. I am not that big on getting the "latest and greatest". Using Debian "testing", I prefer to be two steps behind the latest releases

I thought Debian was 4 years behind the latest releases?

Oh teh memoires . The exact reason why I switched to gentoo .

Actually no, if you use the "testing" repositories. Nobody would use Debian "stable" repositories. Actually "unstable" repositories would give you the latest packages, but I prefer one step behind.

I guess it's a bit like ~arch and arch in Gentoo.

hi there,

Harishankar,
looks like you changed your mind last time...
from your post in MCA - Distribution of the year...
Sorry, could not avoid it.

regards


slackie1000

I remember this statement quite well. Actually a lot has changed since that time.

I have gained more experience in Debian. Only when I started using Debian, I have really felt comfortable with Linux.

here's my story.

Actually I bought a new hard disk. I initially downloaded Slackware 10 and installed it on my new disk and found it..... boring. No real challenge in using it. Yes. I had a bit of trouble with the sound card, but nothing distro specific. Installing it was very easy too.

The real problem for me with Slackware was that I am a pampered fellow. Apt-get and Synaptic has made me soft.

But really I would have stuck with Slackware had I not been really bored with lots of free time at that time. Then I went to gentoo.org and thought, "why not?"

It was a great decision. I immediately found a comfort-level with Gentoo which I have not found in any other distro (including Fedora Core 1 and 3) barring Debian. I suppose everybody has a "comfort-zone" and I think Gentoo fitted my comfort zone quite well.

I actually took 3 days to read the "gentoo handbook" and really went through it step by step, understanding the implication of each step before installing it. So it went pretty smoothly. For a week, I spent installing all the stuff I needed: X, ATI drivers, KDE, and so on. I find the "minimalistic" approach great.

Gentoo is my "pure" desktop box with focus on multimedia (audio) editing tools which I need at present. I have the feeling that I am in full control with Gentoo now. No problem with drivers because I compiled the kernel myself.

I still have some free partition space left after installing Gentoo, so I think I might try another distro soon: maybe go and try Slackware.