Re: [gentoo-user] it keeps growing

[n952162]

On 6/1/21 5:22 PM, Mark Knecht wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 7:14 AM Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com
> <mailto:rdalek1967@×××××.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Hund wrote:
> > > On June 1, 2021 3:38:30 PM GMT+02:00, n952162 <n952162@×××.de
> <mailto:n952162@×××.de>> wrote:
> > >> 337 packages this month to be updated.  It keeps getting more and
> more.
> > >> Pretty soon, gentoo will overtake Bitcoin in energy use.
> > >>
> > >>
> > > One might then ask why you have so many packages? And why you have
> a computer that consumes enough power for you to be worried about it?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Hund
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > I was thinking along the lines of how many packages even binary distros
> > have to update.  I've installed binary based distros before and when
> > updating those, there can be hundreds, several hundred, packages to
> > upgrade.  Thing is, those same packages exist in Gentoo. If one has a
> > very similar set of packages installed, odds are, almost the same
> > packages will update in either a source based distro like Gentoo or in a
> > binary based distro.  The only difference is Gentoo compiles from
> source.
> >
> > If one is really concerned about compile times or the amount of power
> > needed to run Gentoo up to date, then one has to question not the
> > updates but why use Gentoo??  While some large packages are available in
> > binary, Firefox, Libreoffice etc, the vast majority of Gentoo is
> > compiled from source.  It's why most people use Gentoo, compile from
> > source with features set like you want.  If one is limited in hardware
> > or power, Gentoo may not be a good option.
> >
> > Makes one think.
> >
> > Dale
> >
> > :-)  :-)
>
> I totally get why the Linux enthusiast or an IT guy tasked with
> specific requirements runs Gentoo. I did from 2001 through maybe early
> 2018.
>
> There are numerous reasons I moved from Gentoo to Kubuntu 3-4 years ago:
>
> - Kubuntu updates take, in general, less than 1 minute, almost never
> more than 5, with an average of 2-3/week. I don't believe I spend more
> than 10 minutes on average any week maintaining my machines. Most
> important to me is in 3-4 years not a single one has failed. Download
> a little binary, install, done. Distribution updates (major rev ->
> major rev) take less than an hour and this is once a year or two. They
> are so infrequent that I typically forget how to do them and have to
> go read instructions.
>
> - Maintaining a simple Gentoo install with no desktop from source
> wasn't bad but the KDE overhead on older laptops was insane for my needs.
>
> - I personally could not perceive any speed advantages in my daily
> life running Gentoo. I'm sure there would be some if I was into
> benchmarking but I'm not.
>
> - Gentoo lost its way (IN MY OPINION ONLY, and maybe it's better now)
> 4-5 years ago in terms of a simple 'stable' release. There was a time
> when I couldn't update without ~amd64-ing some packages.
>
> - I use two paid-for non-open source applications - Harrison Mixbus
> (based on Ardour) and PixInsight. It's WAY easier to get support when
> running the same distro these vendor runs and it's been a BIG help in
> my life to get that support.
>
>    Sadly, I don't have nearly the knowledge of how things work under
> the hood on Kubuntu and the user level community is very quiet so I
> try to make general contributions here just to stay connected. This is
> still the best user group I know of. Friendly, informative experts.
>
> Just my 1.5 cents worth as I listen to Hunky Dory,
> Mark


I wish gentoo would throttle the upstream more.  Is there another source
distribution besides gentoo?  Is LFS a viable competitor?