Re: [gentoo-user] Gentoo, new computer, still a bit confused

[Mark Knecht]

On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 6:53 PM, CJoeB <colleen.beamer@×××××.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> First, thanks for all the input regarding CFLAGS.
>
> Can I be honest here?  My technical skills don't seem to be anywhere
> near on a par with most of the people on this list.  I've been using
> Gentoo since 2004 and the reason I do, is for the control that I have
> over my system.
>
> Because this will be a new computer and I may essentially void the
> warranty if I alter the pre-configuration, I seriously thought about
> leaving the status quo and putting up with Windows 7.  However, I would
> lose practically as much as losing my first born!  I would have to put
> up with all the things that bug me about Windows and I wouldn't have all
> the programs that I love in Linux.
>
> If I am a "chicken shit" and still want Linux, I could install another
> distro, like Kubuntu, where you can be almost brain dead and still get a
> running Linux system, but then I would sacrifice the control that I know
> and love about Gentoo.  I'm not willing to do that either .... at least
> not without a fight.
>
> I've always managed to get my Gentoo system running and maintained, but
> I've always used an x86 iso and stage 3.  I've googled and didn't really
> find a definitive answer to my question so, I am bowing to the experts
> on this list and asking you guys to bear with me and help me out.
>
> What would you recommend that I used for the iso an stage 3?  As a
> reminder my computer is a Dell XPS 8300 with an Intel Core -i7-2600
> processor.  I'm a little confused between the choices x86 (which seems
> to only apply to Pentium 4 systems and only utilizes 32-bit processing),
> amd64 and ia64.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Regards,
>
> Colleen
>
> --
>
> Registered Linux User #411143 with the Linux Counter, http://counter.li.org

Hi Colleen,
   I'm not sure I understand the warranty issue so take this with a
grain of salt but most of the pre-configured Windows machines I've
received in the last couple of years had some disk space left over
outside  of the Windows C drive. I'm sure you could install Gentoo on
one of those and not void anything, assuming you have one.

   If you don't then you could do all the Windows install they require
and then generate your recovery disks Once you've got the recovery
disks you're in pretty good shape to set everything back up like it
was when you got it. I don't see how that could void a warranty.

   William's comment about running Gentoo in a VM is very valid.

   There really aren't any specific 64-bit things I'm aware of that
you need to choose. It's all pretty generic these days, at least with
the Intel processors. I've not used an AMD processor in a while. Boot
from pretty much any Linux Live CD and then do the stage 3 install and
you should be fine. ia64 isn't TTBOMK knowledge something you need to
pay attention to. All my Intel i5 & i7 machines are amd64 stable with
a few ~amd64 packages.

   One note about the Sandy Bridge processor is reight now it does
require a specific CFLAG setting to get everything to build correctly
due to a gcc bug.

   As for any other distro, once you use Gentoo you won't be happy
elsewhere. ;-) Stick with Gentoo, most especially since you have all
the hardware power you need to build code at world class speed.

Hope this helps,
Mark