Gentoo -- help

[Jason Carson]

Don't get discouraged. When I first started using Gentoo about 8 years ago
it took me a few weeks and many attempts to get a system up and running.
It was a steep learning curve and nothing like other distributions but
once it was all up and running its great. I really like portage.

> Thanks Walter, but I gave up already.  I thought you start with minimal
> install, and run some command to start compiling process, and just sit
> back and watch.
> --
> William
>
> On Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 02:59:06AM -0500, Walter Dnes wrote:
>> On Sun, Mar 06, 2011 at 09:14:51PM -0500, William Park wrote
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > I decided to try Gentoo.  I downloaded "netinstall" version
>> >     gentoo-install-amd64-minimal-20110224.iso
>> > and am able to boot to shell prompt.  What do I do then?
>> > I thought it would be just minimal install, from which you install
>> other
>> > stuffs.  But, it's not.  And, I gave up browsing gentoo.org... can't
>> make
>> > head or tail of it.
>>
>>   Rather than the multiple chapters, I prefer the all-in-one webpage
>> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml?full=1
>>
>>   The install requires some manual work/configuration.  Here is the hint
>> that saves the most work.  If you have another linux machine, or even a
>> Windows machine with Putty, on your installing machine...
>> - run "net-setup" to get the network functional
>> - run "passwd" and set a password
>> - run "/etc/init.d/sshd" to start the ssh daemon
>> - walk over to the other machine, and ssh into the installing machine
>>
>>   Now you can web browse the install webpage for install instructions,
>> and copy+paste commands into the terminal window that's connected to the
>> installing machine.  Makes things *MUCH* more convenient.  It's also
>> nice, because you can now scp config files like /etc/resolv.conf from
>> your linux machine over to the installing machine.
>>
>>   If you can't do this, then you'll have to do the following...
>> - run "net-setup" to get the network functional
>> - press {ALT-F2} to get to the second tty
>> - "links
>> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml?full=1"
>>   to bring up the install instructions
>> - if "links" isn't available, try "links2"
>> - press {ALT-F1} to switch back to the install, and {ALT-F2} to view the
>>   install docs
>>   I believe that the gpm daemon runs by default, so you can cut-n-paste
>> in text consoles.  If it isn't running, execute the command...
>> "/etc/init.d/gpm" to start it.
>>
>>   Other helpful hints...
>> - when setting up /etc/make.conf I recommend including...
>> CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe"
>> CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
>> MAKEOPTS="-j1"
>>   ...the first 2 lines are standard.  The "-j1" solves the occasional
>> compile that mysteriously blows up.  Yes, higher values are *SUPPOSED*
>> to work OK, but occasionally they don't.  "-j1" slows down the compile
>> process slightly, but...
>> - the compiled program is just as fast
>> - spending an hour trying to figure out why a compile is blowing up will
>>   use up more time than you "save" with higher values.  Besides which,
>>   the build process can run in the background.  Note that you can browse
>>   the web with Firefox while Firefox is being re-built.  This may be a
>>   bit hard to grasp, but it does work.
>>
>>   For a GUI, build xorg-server, *NOT* xorg-x11.  xorg-x11 is a
>> "monolithic" build that pulls in a lot of extraneous stuff.
>>
>>   Unless you're familiar with PAM, and are hosting other users on your
>> machine, mask it out and save yourself a lot of hassle.  config files
>> are set up differently under PAM, and 99% of the docs on the web assume
>> you're not using PAM.
>>
>>   Also, mask out HAL.  It's being deprecated and even the lead developer
>> has admitted that it is excrement.
>>
>>   The gentoo-user mailing-list subscription instructions are at...
>> http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/lists.xml
>>
>>   Send me (offline) the output of "lspci -v" and "cat /proc/cpuinfo" on
>> the machine to be installed, and I can help you get set up a bit faster.
>> Setting up your USE var is a bit of an art.
>>
>> --
>> Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org>
>> --
>> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
>> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
>> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>


--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists