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On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 3:35 PM, Indi <thebeelzebubtrigger@×××××.com> wrote: |
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> Whaddayatawkinbout, gentoo is more than great, it's awesome! |
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> Gentoo isn't intended for beginners, and makes no claims about |
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> "user friendliness" of which I'm aware. Generally speaking, making |
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> things "user friendly" entails adding more layers of abstraction. |
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> It's nice for those who don't want to study to learn how to use their |
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> computer, but it's not going to give the best performance. Security is |
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> also frequently impacted to some degree. |
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|
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I just want to say that I love Gentoo Linux, have used it as my |
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primary OS for years on multiple computers and can't stand to use |
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anything else. I like having total control over everything. I truly |
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enjoy it, the Gentoo Way just feels like "the right way" in general to |
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me. That is my subjective opinion. |
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|
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But I also want to say that just because you're forced to do things |
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yourself doesn't mean that makes them inherently better-performing or |
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secure. :) One can just as easily screw up their CFLAGS and a have |
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terrible security setup, especially a beginner. This list's archives |
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are full of such stories... |
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|
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I say install a binary distro to get your feet wet with Linux. |
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Understand the basic concepts of how the system works, using a shell, |
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editing config files, etc. Once that's not a 100% foreign experience |
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to you, then go and install Gentoo using the great docs, wikis, |
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forums, mailing lists and IRC as your guide, and we can be your |
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hand-holding friends along the way. |
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|
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I would also suggest using a virtual machine for your first |
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installations. It will make it a lot less scary. You messed up |
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partitioning? No problem, you didn't just destroy your Windows |
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installation or your life-long collection of digital photos (that you |
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probably never got around to making a backup of). |
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|
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As a newbie to Linux, comparing distros is usually equivalent to |
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comparing the default desktop environment, wallpaper and color scheme. |
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They don't know enough to care about bootloader, filesystem layout, |
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LVM, package manager, or whatever holy wars linux distros are having |
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these days. :) |
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|
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A beginner can certainly follow along the Gentoo install docs, but I |
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think it takes a certain kind of person to tolerate it... Blindly |
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copy-pasting commands that they don't understand isn't necessarily |
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going to teach them anything. Not any more than blindly copy-pasting |
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example code from a programming textbook makes you a programmer... |
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Having at least some basic understand of the commands you're typing in |
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will greatly enhance the experience, in my opinion. |
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|
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Good luck to the OP, whatever he chooses. Welcome to the dark side. :) |