Re: [gentoo-user] upgrading from kernel 2.6.24-rc6 to latest kernel

[bn]

Philip Webb ha scritto:
> 090518 bn wrote:
>> Philip Webb ha scritto:
>>> With binary distros, you are stuck with whatever their makers give you.
>> whatever distro you're using, Linux is Linux. You're not locked out.
>> If my xorg.conf doesn't work (it happened with Ubuntu),
>> I can edit it on Ubuntu just like on Gentoo.
>> I can compile source packages on Ubuntu too, if needed.
>
> But don't you immediately run into all the settings & assumptions
> which the creators of that release of that distro have made for you ?

Yes. Which usually are sensible, and when they're not, I can usually
modify them.
Don't you immediately run into all the default settings and assumptions
that the creators of each $PACKAGE do even here? Or do you write all
your KDE configuration files by hand before running it the first time?

> Can you have multiple versions of a library (as via Gentoo's slots) ?

This, I don't know and it's an interesting thing. *Some* package is
available in more versions on binary distros, but I dunno how they
manage that.

> You're also stuck with their kernel:
> how many users of Mandriva compile their own kernels ?
> how safe is it to use your own kernel with the rest of the distro ?

True. Having a slimmer kernel is nice; however compiling your own kernel
 is not always failsafe even for fairly knowledgeable users (that's why
I started the thread).

> You also have to accept their version of big items like KDE :
> if you use Slackware, you've got to use KDE 4 , like it or not (me: not);
> with Gentoo, you can go on using KDE 3 & its pieces much longer.

Yes, but for example I would like to try KDE4 --> requires ~x86 -->
mixing x86 and ~x86 for such big stuff is bad. Gentoo x86 is way behind
binary distros' stable packages, and that's another pain.

> If you use Ubuntu, you've got to accept their eccentric & questionable
> attitude to passwords, esp that they don't have a separate root password.
> I find that a piece of cheap popularisation contrary to UNIX principles.

I found it very useful and it makes much sense in my opinion -so much
that I would like to know how to fully "ubuntize" my Gentoo in this
single respect. I don't maybe like it's pulled down the throat of users,
but if they had the option to choose between both with,say,one
installation option click, it would be perfect.

> So if you use Mandriva or Slackware -- good binary distros both -- ,
> you accept what's been cooked for you & are one of the crowd of diners.
> If you use Gentoo, you enjoy your own home cooking.

Even if I'm Italian, I'm maybe not such a good cook :)

The problem is another. I loved Gentoo when I was an undergraduate or
graduate student and I had my own desktop at home to tinker with,
separate from my workstation in the office.

Now I am working abroad and I cannot have root access on my workstation.
So the workstation is almost worthless, apart from specialized needs
that require me to work on it. If I want to be productive, I need to use
my own laptop. And I simply cannot afford this laptop to go awry. That's
why I am so shy in updating xorg and the kernel now. I will do it, but I
want to be quadruple-sure of everything I can. And that's why I am
beginning to think Ubuntu fast-food could be better than my own cuisine....

m.