Ah, the big question. I had a fierce debate with a friend over this one. I’m +1 for Gentoo but that’s a biased vote.
It’s quite simple really. The choice depends on who you are and what you want. Me being a developer and a linux enthusiast found the Gentoo installation in itself a very enlightening experience, which is nothing short of nightmare for a person who wants to switch from windows. Sure, it took 3 days, but I sure learned a lot.
Of course, saying that Debian is linux not suited for developers is stupidity, it is after all one of the most preferred and popular distros out there which has managed to capture both the hardcore dev crowd as well as the n00bs. But I found it quite silly that I had to “apt-get install” to get “make” or “autoconf”. Ubuntu was even sadder. Not even a kernel source!
The point is not that you can’t do something in Debian, the point is that Gentoo forces you to do it. The installation is in itself a “Linux Tutorial”, you learn the nitty-gritty of kernel configuration, learn about gcc flags you never thought existed, learn about configuring your obscure graphics card to work with X. Truly eye-opening. And this is the advantage people who installed and work with Gentoo have over those you pointed-and-clicked their way through Debian, Ubuntu and RedHat: Complete control and Knowledge of your PC, apart from the happiness; “YES! It Works!”. So what if I couldn’t sleep for 3 days?!
The final word? Here it goes:
Developer + Guts = Gentoo
Developer + Lazy = Debian
Newbie = Ubuntu/RedHat/Whatever
And arguing that Gentoo is “not meant for server-class installation” is total crap. More on that later though…
Don’t forget Linux From Scratch (for learning how it all works) and Arch Linux (as a nice alternative to Gentoo and probably a better comparison partner than Debian)!
While Linux is a lot of fun, I am now spoilt by using mac OS X. The power of UNIX and MAC GUI is a killer combination. Having said that I would never move away from tools like VIm, FreeMind and other wonderful Open source apps.
Nice, blog, so what are you upto on PHP GTK front?
LFS nowhere near compares to Gentoo, Gentoo is more an automated LFS in a way. Yes you build it your way and to your standard but the Gentoo developers have created systems of automation, a toolkit if you will to create your linux your way.
Even a stage 1 gentoo install is nothing like doing LFS, i’d rather compare Sourceror/Source Mage to Gentoo.
Checkout Sabayon, it’s Gentoo based, installs on virtually anything and looks almost as pretty as a Mac. sabayonlinux.org
I used to use Knoppix as my first distro two/three years ago as I switched from windows. I then moved to Kubuntu (Knoppix packages broke). After getting frustrated at the dpendency hell that I created by using third-party packages and waiting six months for updates, I gave Gentoo a spin.
A three-day/one-night install and configuring X and everything. I’ve never been happier. The packaging system is amazing. I always have my packages up-to-date and they run faster (CFLAGS) than on any other distro (that I tried so far). Gentoo also has more packages than I’ll ever need, which is a good thing.
Oh, and the documentation found on the website and at the gentoo-wiki is also great! You can’t go wrong with Gentoo!
BTW: my friend is using gentoo for his cluster.
stable and & support & good free comunity http://www.gnewsense.org/
Geek, last, unstable, fast http://www.gentoo.org
Old school http://www.debian.org
I hope u agree whit me
bye
Hmm.. I’m not sure you’re seeing things totally accurately here. On the one hand you’re advocating Gentoo over LFS because the dev’s have essentially ‘automated’ LFS, presumably to avoid the repeated, boring work of compiling everything manually. How is that so different from choosing a binary package based distribution over a source based one?
Sure, I have wasted a clock cycle or two, but my distribution is all but invisible; most of my time has been spent programming C, Bash scripts, Ruby, and Java. If you think your distribution is teaching you about Linux/Unix, let me ask you this:
for all the time you spend on your computer, how much of that is learning to program, learning the GNU tools, learning to make kernel modules, or learning to script other people’s scripts and tools to make them work better for you? How much of your time is spent fixing distribution-specific problems? I think if you know all your CFLAGS and emerge command line options but can’t write 10 lines of C or Bash, your time is wasted.
I’m not saying Gentoo doesn’t have its place in the Linux community, but don’t bash people for choosing to work at a higher level of abstraction than you. Most of us are fleas compared to many of the hackers who built and work with Debian every day. They deserve our respect.
Wow, a post from over two years ago. I’m not sure I would agree with my former self either
Debian definitely deserves our respect. But I’m still going strong with Gentoo – though I will admit I spend a lot less time compiling stuff these days when compared to the time I wrote this entry!
The fact that I learned most of what I know about the kernel and “Linux” as a whole operating system from my first Gentoo installations doesn’t change.
I tried Gentoo for 2 weeks and i get really mad when i saw the amount of work i had to do just to get the X working, i was saying all the time “.. if this were Debian i were already programming and not messing around with emerge…”
but finally i did it, it was a good experience, but i don’t wan to do it again….. i stay cool with Lenny…..
Like you said, it’s merely a matter of choice. I’ve been using Debian for a while now and I feel at ease with it. Gentoo like you said does force you to learn about the kernel and the Linux OS as a whole, but you ‘can’ learn it with Debian as well if you ‘want’.
Anyways, my first Linux distro was Gentoo itself and it was an amazing experience nevertheless. Cheers!
And I’m looking forward to your post on Gentoo for server class installations
Good comparison. Installation of Gentoo had taught me the same things as of the things I have learned from LFS installation and I still think if one wants to *only* learn Linux and not a distro for daily use then one can go with LFS. Gentoo is for an expert user who prefers customization and learning. I do prefer learnign over comfort (I prefer it a lot) and I don’t prefer customization/optimization. So I still wonder what distro is for me . My instincts are not satisfied with Arch.
It’s shocking when you surf the web and find your old comments =]
By the way, Gentoo allows users to customise their packages beyond the fixed expectations of Debian – THAT is the advantage…
However, that said one could easily replace Debian packages with custom-compiled variants one-by-one – if only deviating from the norm in a small way..