Re: [gentoo-user] mirrorselect on new install

[Mike Edenfield]

On 5/12/2011 8:06 PM, Felix Miata wrote:

> In the pages preceding
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=6
> it seemed as though the process would be easy enough, having
> built up some experience working in chroot lately to fix
> fubar'd Fedora and Mandriva rpm database disasters
> (https://qa.mandriva.com/show_bug.cgi?id=32547 &
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=680508).
>
> I guess I missed the requirement to be running Gentoo to be
> able to initiate an install of Gentoo. I thought whatever
> Linux was already installed would be good enough, until I
> got to the mirrorselect instructions, and found no
> incorporated alternative such as Indi has replied with.
> Indeed, not needing to have booted Gentoo to run a Gentoo
> installer was part of the allure that got me started.

You don't need to be running Gentoo to install Gentoo. You 
do need to be running a Gentoo install CD to follow the 
Handbook's "How to install Gentoo using a Gentoo install CD" 
guide. But you could perform the same basic steps using any 
bootable CD and get a working Gentoo system.

Mirrorselect in particular is completely optional; you don't 
*have* to set a specific distfile or rsync mirror. Portage 
will use sensible defaults. Or, you could just as easily set 
up your selected mirror with a text editor :)

--Mike