Re: [gentoo-dev] Gentoo 1.4 suggestion - bootstrap with distcc

[Tom Schumm]

> I still would like to beta-test a bootstrap process powered by distcc. In
> case it works, it would be a really nice speed boost to the installation
> process. I think it's worth the time even if you only build gcc, glibc and
> the kernel with distcc (gcc and kernel are confirmed to work ok).

I've been playing around quite a bit with distcc, including using it during 
the bootstrap, and dispite my best efforts, I have been utterly unable to 
compile glibc with distcc (though to be quite honest, understanding complex 
makefiles is not my bag.)  Also, it is not possible (as far as I can tell) to 
use distcc during stage 2 or stage 3 of the gcc bootstrap.  Being that glibc 
is probably the most time consuming build, and two thirds of gcc (the second 
most time consuing build) can't garner a speedup, the value of using distcc 
during the bootstrap is well outweighed by the amount of effort it takes to 
get it working even that much.  In fact, with stage2 tarballs available for 
just about every processor, the value of starting from stage1 isn't nearly as 
big as it was with previous versions of Gentoo.

However, it is possible to use distcc after the bootstrap.  Just bootstrap 
without it, or use the stage2 tarball, then emerge distcc and configure it 
before doing emerge system.  That works pretty well (though with distcc 0.11 
I've had more packages fail than with 0.10 - I haven't had a chance to try 
0.12 yet).

Also, the kernel compiles just swimmingly with distcc.  I recommend that 
everyone try it to achieve maximum happiness levels.
 
-- Tom Schumm
http://www.phong.org/