First stab at Gentoo Linux (CONFIRMED: I've found my distro!)UPDATED)

[DnetMHZ]

Well, I decided to try out Gentoo Linux last night. I started with the 16 meg ISO download (stage 1 install as they call it)
The step by step install instructions they provide make the process pretty smooth. One warning to those with slow computers, building the entire system
from sources takes a LONG time.. and you might be better off downloading the 100 meg ISO with the pre-build base system.
I spent about 1 1/2 - 2 hours putting it together on my 1.4 T-Bird and I still have a few more steps to complete tonight. All in all this installation method is definately worth the effort, since the OS will be optimized for the system it's running on. I will post a further review later on once everything is up and running fully. First impressions though are very good.

Gentoo Linux

DnetMHZ

 

[DaHitman]

Have you noticed how FAST things compile when you have compiled your own compiler to compile things with?

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< Have you noticed how FAST things compile when you have compiled your own compiler to compile things with? >>



LOL...yes but fast is a relative term

 

[DirtylilTechBoy]

What do you guys think about using Gen2nix for a server that needs banking level security???

 

[cleverhandle]

<< Have you noticed how FAST things compile when you have compiled your own compiler to compile things with? >>



Any speed increase is probably illusory - gcc is one of a few programs (along with bin-utils and glibc) that doesn't take optimizations well. It will accept CFLAGS and such, but optimized builds of gcc usually fail to run or cough up weird errors in other places. While I haven't yet played with Gentoo, I imagine that it reverts to stock flags for those builds.

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< Any speed increase is probably illusory - gcc is one of a few programs (along with bin-utils and glibc) that doesn't take optimizations well. It will accept CFLAGS and such, but optimized builds of gcc usually fail to run or cough up weird errors in other places. While I haven't yet played with Gentoo, I imagine that it reverts to stock flags for those builds >>



didn't know that.. thanks cleverhandle

<Update>
To update my thread a bit I thought I'd post what the usage of this new linux box is going to be and add any experiences/problems i have along the way in setting it up. This server will be running the following packages/services(if all goes well):

1. Samba
2. Apache/PHP/SSL (possibly web mail with squirrelmail)
3. Some database package, I haven't decided yet but it will most likely be MySQL or something similar

I'll keep this thread updated as I get stuff working.
wish me luck..
DnetMHZ

 

[thornc]

<< Have you noticed how FAST things compile when you have compiled your own compiler to compile things with? >>



Yes, I've seen with LFS!! In fact this gentoo linux approach seems a bit like LFS,Sorcerer or even Root Linux(or was it something else?!)
So it's no new story...in fact the new thing might be the ports, but even those are old news....

 

[DnetMHZ]

<update>
Well after a quick kernel rebuild to tinker with the NIC driver module the system is up and running.
Now to start installing packages.

more to come soon.

DnetMHZ

 

[n0cmonkey]

I want to know your thoughts on their "portage" system. I really want to know if they are telling the truth when they say it is sooo much better than BSD ports.

So far it seems like a lot of work to install the damn thing. I usually end up rebuilding my BSD systems, but thats after they are up and running.

 

[DaHitman]

<< I want to know your thoughts on their "portage" system. I really want to know if they are telling the truth when they say it is sooo much better than BSD ports.
>>



Well... my old friend... let me put it this way... as someone who runs OBSD as well as Linux...

Gentoo's "portage" is sort of like if you took BSD ports, and added automatic download/compile/install of dependancies etc. on top of the normal BSD ports...

So if you want tcpdump, but you dont have libpcap installed yet.. it would figure that out, and automacitally download the libpcap port, compile it, then install it... THEN IT would download tcpdump and do the compile/install. Its pretty cool really..

But I still have a huge soft spot for OBSD in my heart... It "feels" like a well worn glove to me... but I just run BSD on servers... On desktop I run Linux... never actually tried OBSD as a desktop... its on my plans though... saved a partition on my new HD for it and everyting... its already labeled OpenBSD by PartMagic...

 

[cleverhandle]

<< Gentoo's "portage" is sort of like if you took BSD ports, and added automatic download/compile/install of dependancies etc. on top of the normal BSD ports...

So if you want tcpdump, but you dont have libpcap installed yet.. it would figure that out, and automacitally download the libpcap port, compile it, then install it... THEN IT would download tcpdump and do the compile/install. Its pretty cool really.. >>



FreeBSD ports do this too, if you don't already know...

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< I want to know your thoughts on their "portage" system. I really want to know if they are telling the truth when they say it is sooo much better than BSD ports. >>



Well so far I'm pretty impressed with the portage system.. so far I've installed apache, lynx, xf86, and a few others without any snags,
usage is really straight forward, for example to install apache I simply typed;

# emerge apache .. doesn't get much easier than that i guess. At this point with what little experience I have with it I'd have to say the portage system is at least on par with the BSD ports system. I'll have to play with it a little more to say for certain which system i prefer.



DnetMHZ

<edit>


<< So far it seems like a lot of work to install the damn thing. >>


I agree on it being a lot of work to install.. still less work than LFS though.
Personally I know that I learned a bunch of new stuff from going through the whole process.
It might not be good for a total linux noob, but for someone trying to get deeper into it I'd say it's a good place to start.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< Gentoo's "portage" is sort of like if you took BSD ports, and added automatic download/compile/install of dependancies etc. on top of the normal BSD ports...

So if you want tcpdump, but you dont have libpcap installed yet.. it would figure that out, and automacitally download the libpcap port, compile it, then install it... THEN IT would download tcpdump and do the compile/install. Its pretty cool really.. >>



FreeBSD ports do this too, if you don't already know... >>



So do OpenBSD's ports, but tcpdump is installed by default

 

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< I want to know your thoughts on their "portage" system. I really want to know if they are telling the truth when they say it is sooo much better than BSD ports. >>



Well so far I'm pretty impressed with the portage system.. so far I've installed apache, lynx, xf86, and a few others without any snags,
usage is really straight forward, for example to install apache I simply typed;

# emerge apache .. doesn't get much easier than that i guess. At this point with what little experience I have with it I'd have to say the portage system is at least on par with the BSD ports system. I'll have to play with it a little more to say for certain which system i prefer.



DnetMHZ

<edit>


<< So far it seems like a lot of work to install the damn thing. >>


I agree on it being a lot of work to install.. still less work than LFS though.
Personally I know that I learned a bunch of new stuff from going through the whole process.
It might not be good for a total linux noob, but for someone trying to get deeper into it I'd say it's a good place to start. >>



Is there any way to search through portage (ie make search key=php on OpenBSD)?

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< Is there any way to search through portage (ie make search key=php on OpenBSD)? >>



I'm not sure, haven't gotten to far into the advanced usage yet.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/portage-manual.html

here is a link to the portage manual if you want to take a look at it.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< Is there any way to search through portage (ie make search key=php on OpenBSD)? >>



I'm not sure, haven't gotten to far into the advanced usage yet.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/portage-manual.html

here is a link to the portage manual if you want to take a look at it. >>



Thanks, Ill read through it. Im thinking about installing this instead of Debian next time I get around to installing linux.

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< Searching The Portage Tree

Portage Trees such as the one that forms the heart of the Gentoo Linux distribution can be quite large. The emerge command provides a search feature which accepts a search string in the form of a regular expression contained in quotes. Regular expressions are very complicated beasts so it is recommended you find a good book on the topic if you are interested in fully using regular expressions.

Most simple searches can be done without knowing how to form regular expressions. The following is an example of a simple search for a package either named "gcc" or has "gcc" as part of its name:

Code listing 23

emerge search gcc
>>



heres the section about searching the portage system

 

[Agamar]

How hard was it to set up Xwindows from scratch. Do you have to open the config files and edit them manually, or can you run programs like Xconfigurator or XF86Setup on them?

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< How hard was it to set up Xwindows from scratch. Do you have to open the config files and edit them manually, or can you run programs like Xconfigurator or XF86Setup on them? >>



you can use either method; manual configuration or with a utility.
I just ran xf86config.

DnetMHZ

 

[DnetMHZ]

<update>
Well.. so far so good.. everything is coming together.

Apache and PHP are up and working (with some extra work after the portage install.. )
Samba is running
OpenSSH is configured.

I have to say I'm very pleased so far with Gentoo.. for the most part everything was very easy to setup, and the Gentoo forums
pretty much covered any problems i ran into.

More to come later

the next step it to start hardening the server security wise
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/gentoo-security.html
This doc should provide a good start i think.

DnetMHZ

 

[EHobaX]

I'm interested in how helpful their online manual for installation is.
I'm putting together a new system to run Linux exclusively, (YAY! No more dual boot!) and was leaning heavily to installing Gentoo.
How would you rate it's usefulness dnetmhz?

 

[DnetMHZ]

<< I'm interested in how helpful their online manual for installation is.
I'm putting together a new system to run Linux exclusively, (YAY! No more dual boot!) and was leaning heavily to installing Gentoo.
How would you rate it's usefulness dnetmhz? >>



The documentation they provide for installation I feel is quite good.. it takes you pretty much step by step through the entire process.
If you just follow along with the instructions, the setup should be fairly simple.. VERY time consuming but simple nonetheless.
The one suggestion I can give you is to make sure you don't just blindly type in all the commands they list.. there are important notes/tips/warnings
for many of the steps. Reading through everything as you go will save you from unnecessary problems.

DnetMHZ

 

[EHobaX]

Great. That's what I wanted to hear. I admit to skimming through docs from time to time, but I usually try to follow them pretty good when I do something drastic. Sometimes I don't care if I don't install some dopey shareware game correctly.

I'm a computer geek. I've got plenty of time. That's what Tony Hawk 3 and Dark Age of Camelot is for in the compiling segments.

 

[DnetMHZ]

Good luck, EHobaX

let us know how you make out with it.

DnetMHZ

 

[EHobaX]

Unfortunately, I didn't order my system parts from Newegg until yesterday. Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday I'll have everything up and running. I'll repost when I get it done. Oh yeah. One quick Q:

I've never run Linux behind Windows ICS which is what I have set up on my DSL connection. Do I need to set the NIC to get an IP at boot or manually config it to the 192.168.x.y addressing convention that Windows uses?

Edit: Haha. Forgot to add. It's Win2k. The DSL router is plugged into one of my Win2k machine's first NIC. The second NIC goes out to the switch I use to share my connection.