Is gentoo usable by newbies?

[Ordinary12]

Okay. Remember...I'm performing an install from the Live CD version, not the Universal. Most of the questions I understand or can reason through but I challenge you and any one else in the Linux arena to make a detailed instruction manual on how to setup Gentoo from a Live CD with only a dial-up modem. I'd be willing to pay someone if they could just:

1. Tell me why no other version of Linux will work on my computer and how to fix it so they all do.
2. Walk me through the steps of setting up Gentoo on my computer.

I don't have much hair left so I can't afford to pull any of it out but I'm getting to that point. Gentoo is the only version of Linux that has been able to run on my setup so far and I don't feel like forking out $100-$200 for a copy of Vista or any other Windows abomination. I like free stuff!!! Linux is free but if the Linux community wants to attract more Windows users to it they need to make it understandable to them. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, silly!)

[jens]

Okay. Remember...I'm performing an install from the Live CD version, not the Universal. Most of the questions I understand or can reason through but I challenge you and any one else in the Linux arena to make a detailed instruction manual on how to setup Gentoo from a Live CD with only a dial-up modem. I'd be willing to pay someone if they could just:

1. Tell me why no other version of Linux will work on my computer and how to fix it so they all do.
2. Walk me through the steps of setting up Gentoo on my computer.

I don't have much hair left so I can't afford to pull any of it out but I'm getting to that point. Gentoo is the only version of Linux that has been able to run on my setup so far and I don't feel like forking out $100-$200 for a copy of Vista or any other Windows abomination. I like free stuff!!! Linux is free but if the Linux community wants to attract more Windows users to it they need to make it understandable to them. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, silly!)

Using Gentoo with a dial up connection is IMHO a very bad idea (and I would never recommend anyone to do that).

1. Tell me why no other version of Linux will work on my computer and how to fix it so they all do.

They all work. Just boot/install them with an ultra bloated kernel and/or as much options as possible (press the function keys to see the boot/install options).

It might also help if you post more info about your hardware.

[likwid]

Gentoo is not meant for noobs. I have been using Linux for 7 or 8 years, professionally for about 4 or 5, and I still consider gentoo a 'last resort.'

Run a memtest86, and disable USB.

[oz]

I am really trying to get myself to install Gentoo, but there is one question,

Is Gentoo usable by newbies?

I've read lots of gentoo/newbie success stories, but I've seen more failure stories, so I suppose the correct answer is that it's usable by some newbies. The best thing to do is give it a try, and if need be, several retries. Lots of gentoo users went through multiple attempts to get it up and running.

Above all, have fun with Linux!

[bryansmith]

Linux is free but if the Linux community wants to attract more Windows users to it they need to make it understandable to them. K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, silly!)

Saying this in conjunction with Gentoo doesn't make much sense to me. I credit the Gentoo project with making a fine distribution but they are not aiming for new users. You would be better off with Suse, Ubuntu, Mandriva or Fedora.

I don't want to discourage you from trying (I commend you for that) but you are taking something that is not meant for newbies and saying that it should be easier. Gentoo is not meant to be an easy distribution - they place configuration and "tweakability" over ease of use.

Second, saying that Gentoo is the only distro that works is wrong because all distro's use the same tools and programs. Some are just configured differently so you may need to tweak some stuff to get certain distro's working.

[oz]

Yeah, Bryan is right... it's like at the ski slopes. There are beginner slopes and there are slopes for the pros. The pros wouldn't like it much if their slopes were made to be easier for beginners.

[mahlerfan]

Hey Ordinary12, if gentoo is the only linux distro that works on your computer, it's thanks to you. The hardware supprt is in the kernel, if gentoo works for you it's because you compiled a kernel that works on your system. Save that kernel, you should be able to use it with other distros if you need it. All you have to do is save your .config file (should be in /usr/src/linux) and you can recompile a kernel with the options that work for you later without having to wonder through menus. I'm surprised that the big distros (or should I say their kernels compiled to include support for nearly everything under the sun) didn't work for you.

You said that you have a dialup modem, there is not much software on the live cd, you will have to download alot of software. When you get to the point that your base system is installed and bootable I strongly suggest that you do emerge --fetch at the same time you're emerging something else. If for instance you're compiling Xorg (which takes along time) it's much more efficient if you have a slow connection to fetch your desktop environment while you're compiling X.

But I have to say that I strongly suggest though that you use a dvd based distro that has a huge amount of software on it. Net based distros like gentoo just don't work well if you're on dialup. Especially since it's a rolling distro model that encourages the user to constantly update their system.

My recs for top distros that work without internet is OpenSuse, Fedora, and Debian. These are the three most popular and have a large amount of software on dvd that you can obtain in multiple ways.