totally lost

[Company2]

We'll I was finally able to find a linux distro that my computer that would load up. The thing though it was Gentoo and to tell you the truth this distro is very complicated but right now I'm lost. Like Ubuntu is Gentoo compatible with RAID 0? Things like USE flages and setting up devices and interfaces are confusing. SO can you help me out and do I have to reformat the whole drive?

[techieMoe]

Personally, if you're new to Linux I would highly recommend you use a different distribution. What problems were you having with your computer when you tried to load something like Ubuntu? Also, what are your computer's hardware specs?

[Company2]

To be honest I had Debian, PclinuxOS, and Ubuntu on Virtual box and learn a little from that. The biggest problem for me is setting up the network. When I tried to set it up in Vbox the install failed. Also the thing is that Gentoo won't recognize Windows in my system (RAID 0) and so I can't partion without erasing windows. Another problem is that I can't set up users.

I have the XPS 700 aand have to SATA hardrives both 250, an nVIDIA GeForce, Duo Cord proccessor Intel, and Dual in line memory module. I hope this helps. I believe that is it.

[Juan Pablo]

I second techieMoe, Gentoo is a distro for developers and experienced users and can be very frustrating for a new Linux user.
For hardware support in Gentoo, it doesn't do any hardware configuration automatically, you will need to configure everything manually (Sound, graphical interface, etc), you will also need to configure and compile your own kernel (maybe you can find there the driver for your SATA controller) with the hardware support you want, this often implies working in a command line with no GUI at all.

[Company2]

Believe me I would go with Ubuntu and I had that installion down packed but I just can't get Ubuntu going if it is a text installaion though I think I can handle that. The thing is that I do have a lot of good open source references around me so I've been stuck with windows so long I just want to rip my hair out because I've been posted on a couple of threads and never got a direct answer. I'm the type of person that doesn't like my operating system to do everything for me and want to be able to control most of what goes on. Though please help me because currently gentoo is my only option so can you do something and maybe give me good links because I tried the gentoo on the website (read it) and got very confused because a lot of things didn't make sense and it went out of order. So I was lost.

[eshum]

I would suggest you go here http://www.sabayonlinux.org go through the wiki, go to the forum and read and ask questions. Download version 3.3 mini cd or dvd if you have a fast cable connection.

ed

[mahlerfan]

You should try a live cd first to see if you like linux. If you use Puppy or DSL (Damn Small Linux), they are very light so it won't be slow on your PC, and you don't take the risk of accidentally hurting your windows install.

Another thing to consider is DSL can run embedded in windows, so you don't have to repartition your hd.

If you are having alot of problems running linux virtually, then just scrap that route and try lightweight live cds imo.

[tech_man]

I should change my signature to "Gentoo is NOT newbie friendly." In other news, you can install Ubuntu in an ncurses environment with the alternate install CD.

[i-right-i]

A linux distro is only as good as its user base and documentation. I have tried just about all the distros there are and I always come back to Gentoo. I have been an Gentoo linux user for a long time. If you are patient and willing to stick with it, the documentation on the Gentoo website will take you step by step, command by command through setting up a base system. IMO no other distro will teach you the nuts and bolts like Gentoo will, esp Ubuntu.

Heck, even Gentoo has a Live CD and DVD now, which from that you can launch a graphical installer or text base installer.

In the end, you really need to ask your self what you want. Do you actually want to become proficient with Linux, or do you just want a desktop and not have to worry about having to tinker and configure things. BTW option 2 is a farse, because linux will never work out of the box on all machines regardless of the distro, but Ubuntu and Fedora Core are about as close to that as your going to get.

~i-right-i

[techieMoe]

I went ahead and moved this to the Coffee Lounge since it's become more of a general discussion thread.