The best way to install Gentoo is via the Internet, using the minimal CD installer, and a rather lengthy manual install process. The minimal CD carries only enough software system to boot the system, prepare the hard disk, get on the Internet, and grab the rest of Gentoo on line. According to most people, it is the best way to install Gentoo. I didn't do so well with it, but I admit I skimmed more than I read. My bad.
I used the LiveCD to install it this time around, and it actually worked. Now, mind you, it worked because it's last year's model. This year's model seems to only work if you want to transfer it to a USB stick drive. The version I used, 2006.1, while buggy itself, did get the job done. At long last, and after much hell, I finally had a stable, functional Gentoo setup on one of my computers. Oh, happy day!
Now, a few days have passed since I installed Gentoo. In that time, I have slowly turned the machine on which it is installed into a do-it-the-way-I-want system. That would have been impossible without something that Gentoo has in abundance: documentation.
If what you are looking for is support and how-to instructional articles, Gentoo has them on everything from setting up a print server using Samba and CUPS to working with their package installation system, and a lot in between. Anyone who has a bit of techno-savvy, the ability to read, patience or a really fast system, and a certain type of fearlessness can get Gentoo up and running...and even running well the vast amount of documentation.
Gentoo isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, the only well documented Linux distro in existence. There are a few others that are well documented. However, in all of my travels in setting up and operating various Linux distros (currently running Debian, Gentoo, and Slackware), I have yet to find documentation as well written and useful as that which exists for users of Gentoo.
And then there are the forums. I have yet to post a problem with the forum because it seems that every problem I have found has been found (and mostly) fixed long ago by someone on the forum.
And the tone of the forums is different as well. In many forums I have read, there is a lot of people troubleshooting from the hip. They really don't know what to do, but they make suggestions just to be helpful. Sometimes they are right. Most times, well, let's just say not too much. The most often suggested thing is "reinstall " and try that. Most often, that doesn't work.
In the Gentoo forums, the people who answer questions know what they are saying. While there are some who shoot from the hip in the Gentoo forums, that isn't the norm. Moreover, because Gentoo is such a nuts-and-bolts system, what you learn working with Gentoo carries over to many other different distros.
If you can get Gentoo to run, you can get any Linux distro to run. If you can tweak Gentoo and get it to hop up and dance, you can install ANY installable Linux distro, well, except perhaps for Yoper.
Gentoo is still not for everyone. It has a really steep learning curve. No, it's not rocket science, but it is balls-to-the-wall computer science. Rare indeed is the Gentoo newbie (n00b) that hasn't had prior experience with Linux, jumped directly into the fire, and didn't get crisped. However, they do exist. I can only sit in awe of the kind of courage it takes to start out with the roughest distro in existence.
Given the availability of resources, the complete virgin n00b could really make some serious headway into having the kind of system that he or she would be proud to show off to their geek pals. That said, I admit I am not that kind of person. I had to play with Slackware for some time now before I was actually ready to dig in my heels, and see what I could make happen with Gentoo.
The story continues...
I had a realization that perhaps a Pentium II 450 isn't the best machine on which to install Gentoo. Oh to be sure, the living digital fossil of which I speak runs Gentoo, and it's running as a print and file server. Technically, I could remove all the GUI stuff, and still be able to have the machine run just fine on a diet of Gentoo.
However, now flushed with a bit of success as far as the world of Gentoo is concerned, I realized that just a taste isn't enough. Oh no, not even close to enough for me. So, I decided to move on to the next machine in my herd, the old Toshiba laptop. It's a bit faster, even if it doesn't have as much memory installed. Considering the amount of memory used by Gentoo, at least on the fossil, I don't think I am going to have a problem. Besides, as soon as I can shake a few dollars free, I'm going to buy a couple more systems just like it, so I can have lots of spare parts.
Goddess knows, tonight proved that it needed some. Gen-tosh, as it is now known, was acquired from a friend who traded it for a reinstall of Windows 2000. Now, as I am sure you are all aware from what you have read, I know a bit about computers. It stands to reason if I can install something as complex as Gentoo, Windows 2000 isn't even close to a challenge. Seriously, all you do is stick in the disk and let it install everything. Where's the challenge? Where are the bragging rights?
I can now say that I have completed a full manual install of Gentoo. Oh yes, I decided that if I was going to run Gentoo, I was going to do at least one manual install. Now I have done it...and it was a nightmare.
The inevitable has finally occurred. I signed off on the Slackware forum at linuxquestions.com and I unsubscribed from all the threads which I had been following. More importantly, I converted my last computer, my new Compaq laptop. Now all of my machines have Gentoo installed.
What I really love about Gentoo is how configurable it is, especially the networking. As I mentioned in the article, Gentoo has the simplest network setup I have ever tried. Editing one small file can give you an infinite number of networking possibilities.
For instance, on Gen-tosh, the networking automatically configures itself at boot time depending on whether the wired or wireless adapter is installed into the PCMCIA slot. If there is no adapter installed, then it automatically configures for no network. It's an awesomely sweet setup!
On this machine, the network automatically sets up for wired or wireless networking depending on whether or not the net cable is plugged into the on board network card. If it is, like now, then the network sets up to run with the wired adapter, ignoring the status of the wireless adapter completely. If the net cable is unplugged, then wireless sets up automatically. NICE NICE NICE!
Now, getting the networking to set itself up this way doesn't happen by magic. Through reading the forums, and doing some reading on other general Linux topics (like script writing), and about five hours of experimentation, I got it to work. Considering what's happening when the computer makes the networking adapter decision, I really didn't work all that hard to make the "miracle" happen.
When I tried to get that to happen with Windows, it was next to impossible. I know, because once I figured out that Gentoo could do this, then I switched over to the Windows side, and tried to get the same thing to happen. Windows fought me every step of the way, even though it was all point and click. I did get it to go, supposedly, but I have yet to really give it a serious acid test.
Doing the same thing with this machine would be impossible under Windows. As far as I know, there isn't an automated Windows networking solution. Please, anyone who knows differently, please let me know. Windows would force both net adapters to be active simultaneously...and that would be all kinds of hell. I don't even have the balls to try. Of course, I'd have to pay for the software to make it happen. Yeah...whatever!
With Slackware, I might have been able to accomplish the deed, but it would have been a lot more difficult. It would have required editing a lot more files. And it would have required documentation...which Slackware lacks, in abundance. I am sure I could have figured it out, but it would have taken a lot longer to get the job done. And it would have required me to fly a little more blindly, owing to the lack of documentation.
But with Gentoo, not only is the networking setup simple, it's also well documented. There are also programs available that will allow you to dynamically set your networking options on the fly with Gentoo. Fortunately, there are also folks who have documented doing what I did, but in a different fashion. Using their ideas as a starting point, I was able to figure out how best to detect the network card, and how best to switch configurations.
The long and the short of it is I have machines that now do things I never thought I'd get them to do. It's all because of Gentoo. For all its faults, and know that there are some, such as a lower aggregate stability as compared to Slackware, Gentoo shines like the lonely beam from a lighthouse scanning the sea on a foggy, moonless night. It has a je ne sais quoi that no other distro I have tried has. It is all that, a bag of chips, the factory that made the chips, and the farm that grew the potatoes.
I can't begin to tell y'all just how happy switching to Gentoo has made me and my systems. I feel like I have truly accomplished something. I have computers that do what I want them to do...at long last. I have learned a lot more in the past few weeks than I did in all the time I worked with Slackware.
This can't be helped. When someone decides to take on Gentoo, it's more than just putting an operating system on your computer. It's making a commitment to know your computer, and Linux, as never before. My brain has come close to exploding a few times, and I must admit that there are times I have to stop and take a break from it. Working with Gentoo can get very, very I-N-T-E-N-S-E!
But, I have something to show for the work in two ways: tangibly and intangibly. Tangibly speaking, I have three computers that work the way I have wanted my computers to work together for some time. Intangibly speaking, not only do I have the knowledge garnered, I also have the feeling of pride and accomplishment. I have the sense that the risk of trying Gentoo was so worth it when looking at the rewards.
So, I really haven't lost a thing by getting rid of Slackware, but dealing with a couple total assholes, and the frustration of poor documentation. Had I known what was going to transpire, I'd have knuckled down and allowed Gentoo to finish in the first place. I'd be a lot farther ahead, and I wouldn't have had to deal with some of the assholes at the Slackware forum.
So, once again, thank you Gentoo, and I am sorry for thinking you were anything less than the most awesome operating system I have ever installed on my machine. I was so wrong.
And while Gentoo is still really not for the n00b, my hat is off to anyone who can bite into Gentoo, and hang on for the ride of their lives.
Blessed be! Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 4:57:04 AM
1 comments
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