why do so few ppl use gentoo

when i first started using linux i went with redhat because it was the first one id heard off. (actually it was because one of my friends dad gave me an old crappy comp with redhat 5 on it) when i was 8. 6 years later i now have 5 different distros on my computer(actually the BSD doesnt count so i guess its only 4), and the only reason i continue to use fedora is really because everyone else does. ive never actually had gentoo completely configed for my system, however i did like it and such. just curious, y do so few ppl use gentoo.

probably becasue of its reputation of being advanced in ways. for example, i am very new to linux and when i heard that programs had to be compiled individually or something that scared me away pretty fast. ill probably have a look at it once im more settled in to linux and know how to use its programs better. it looks pretty fun! :D

It's due to the installation.

The Stages 1 and 2 installs require Internet access. You have no GUI; when you boot, you go into a console. The documentation is awesome, but you still have to do EVERYTHING on your own. Even partitioning, which scares a lot of people.

Once you have it setup, it's actually pretty easy to use. You want a new app? Just go to your terminal and type "emerge <app>". Want to update your entire system?

Code:

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emerge --update --deep --newuse world

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It's quite easy to maintain, and it's uber-fast. It's tailormade for your computer, so it works very nicely.


So yeah, I'd have to say that it's the reputation and the installation. Oh, and the length. My computer was out for 4 days. I did the whole install in two, but I then had to compile X and KDE.

However, the whole process is made uber-easy by installing through Knoppix. That way, you have a GUI, IM, IRC, Internet access, and all that jazz through the whole process.


But to answer the question, a reputation for difficulty. That's true for the install (not really, as there's great documentation), but not really for anything else in it.

Once you get past the installation, which can be a b***h, and it is time consuming.

Gentoo is probably one of the easiest distros to maintain.
emerge <app> solves all of the dependencies for you.

I managed to install a Stage 3 on a old pc, 90 MB ram, a Cyrix MII proc.
And it is fast.
At least until I try to open more that 4 windows.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by budman7

Once you get past the installation, which can be a b***h, and it is time consuming.

Gentoo is probably one of the easiest distros to maintain.
emerge <app> solves all of the dependencies for you.

I managed to install a Stage 3 on a old pc, 90 MB ram, a Cyrix MII proc.
And it is fast.
At least until I try to open more that 4 windows.

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what are the stage 1, 2, and 3.

Stage1, this means you do everything, optimizing it the way you want it. Bootstrapping can take a while.
Stage2, you start out with a bootstrapped system, my understanding is that it takes a couple hours off of the install, never having done it, I can't confirm this.
Stage3, gives you a fully workable system. Fully workable means that it works, however there is no X, no internet browser, there are some other things , but those are the major 2 that you will need to emerge.

lol i know its a *****. it tooke me 3 days to install it. and ur right i guess that would scare most ppl off, thats y fedora is nice too in a way. u can just reinstall it as much as you want. but yea, im going to change my main boot,(i have 5 of them)to the 100gb partion, rather than leave it on the 15 gb chunk. btw what about this knoppix thing you said about, where do u get that. a gui would kick ass. lol

thanks
sorry i made u write it out :( i found the manual

Its 100% impossible to install correctly the first 1000 tries. :)

I once read in someone's sig : "Life's too short for gentoo"
I assume he was referring to the install, and the fact that compilation takes forever, especially on some of the low- to mid-end systems. (Is there even such a thing as mid-end?) It's even worse if you have dialup, or (worse) are sharing a T1 connection with 1000 other users. It just takes too long to do anything.