4 ms·

Apparently you've never tried gentoo.

Shorel 13y ago
I have tried it, it just takes a week to install, while Ubuntu takes some hours (I test several configurations until I'm happy with one).
- jb17 13y ago
  How did it take you weeks to install? You basically just extract a small archive.
  - korethr 13y ago
    I'm confident that that was hyperbole, but the overall idea is not wrong. It takes much less time to install a pre-compiled binary from a .deb or .rpm file than it does to configure and compile source code, even if you have an especially powerful CPU to hand. Why? Your distro has already done the hard work of configuring and compiling for you.
  - Shorel 13y ago
    Then you set some env vars, compile a bunch of applications for hours and then realize that your env vars were wrong or you want to change them for some reason and you have to start compiling all over again. Unless you want some console-only LFS. But that's not me.
  - Shish2k 13y ago
    libc alone took ~48 hours on my P2-266 with 32MB RAM... (My gentoo experience may be somewhat out of date)
Schiphol 13y ago
You should list your phone number as the support hotline for those users of Ubuntu that take your word for it, and change to Gentoo to improve in usability. :)
stinos 13y ago
ugh, the emerge hell :] I'll take plain debian over that any day.
- TsiCClawOfLight 13y ago
  or RHEL if you want the deployment stuff.
keithpeter 13y ago
Personal use: Someone at the level of confidence with IT required to install and configure gentoo would probably be able to install and configure just about any popular GNU/Linux distribution. Corporate use: Ubuntu desktop can be deployed in various ways automatically. Canonical will sell configuration systems as well. There was at one point a desktop image available for corporate use that has the social and media integration removed. Not sure about gentoo in that area (if anyone has supported a large scale gentoo installation for end users, let us know!). I would imagine people would be looking more at CentOS or openSuse.
SeanDav 13y ago
"Apparently you've never tried gentoo." and this right here (sorry Parent, just using this as an example) is the reason that Linux has always been consigned to the ranks of the also-rans on the desktop. Someone will always come up with a reason why flavour x is better than flavour y. No matter what aspect of Linux is discussed, there will always be a significant proportion of users that think their flavour is better. If you care about Linux on the desktop, you have got to see that people like Mark Shuttleworth are absolutely essential if Linux is ever to compete meaningfully on the desktop with Microsoft and Apple.
- 89vision 13y ago
  "usable" "gentoo" I think I detect a hint of sarcasm
- phaemon 13y ago
  > and this right here...is the reason that Linux has always been consigned to the ranks of the also-rans on the desktop. Someone will always come up with a reason why flavour x is better than flavour y. No it isn't. The number of people who don't use Linux on their desktop, simply because someone else commented on a forum that they preferred one distribution over another, is utterly negligible. In fact, the theory is just ludicrous!
  - scholia 13y ago
    But it does impact companies that might otherwise try pre-installing Linux. Whichever distro they pick, they lose 100% of the Windows market plus the 97%* of the Linux market who bitch about not getting their fave version. * Made up number but I remember Acer shipping netbooks with Linpus Lite...
    - drcube 13y ago
      Not at all. I bought a System 76 laptop that came pre-installed with Ubuntu. But I don't like Ubuntu. However, I knew that Linux ran on it out of the box, and that meant I could run Slackware without worrying about missing drivers, etc. Also, it was a great way to support a company that supports free software. To me, a company that sells pre-installed Linux on decent hardware has my admiration and support, regardless of the distro.
itsjustpiper 13y ago
When you can buy a brand new laptop/tablet/device running gentoo, we can talk. Ubuntu got over that chicken/egg problem where OEMs don't want to ship linux on their computers because it's not popular, and it's not popular because OEMs don't ship linux on their computers. That, in and of itself, is a huge feat. Unfortunately, it can only really mean something for maybe a few years before casual desktop computing is "gone".

I have tried it, it just takes a week to install, while Ubuntu takes some hours (I test several configurations until I'm happy with one).

jb17 13y ago
How did it take you weeks to install? You basically just extract a small archive.
- korethr 13y ago
  I'm confident that that was hyperbole, but the overall idea is not wrong. It takes much less time to install a pre-compiled binary from a .deb or .rpm file than it does to configure and compile source code, even if you have an especially powerful CPU to hand. Why? Your distro has already done the hard work of configuring and compiling for you.
- Shorel 13y ago
  Then you set some env vars, compile a bunch of applications for hours and then realize that your env vars were wrong or you want to change them for some reason and you have to start compiling all over again. Unless you want some console-only LFS. But that's not me.
- Shish2k 13y ago
  libc alone took ~48 hours on my P2-266 with 32MB RAM... (My gentoo experience may be somewhat out of date)

Schiphol 13y ago

You should list your phone number as the support hotline for those users of Ubuntu that take your word for it, and change to Gentoo to improve in usability. :)

stinos 13y ago

ugh, the emerge hell :] I'll take plain debian over that any day.

TsiCClawOfLight 13y ago
or RHEL if you want the deployment stuff.

keithpeter 13y ago

Personal use: Someone at the level of confidence with IT required to install and configure gentoo would probably be able to install and configure just about any popular GNU/Linux distribution. Corporate use: Ubuntu desktop can be deployed in various ways automatically. Canonical will sell configuration systems as well. There was at one point a desktop image available for corporate use that has the social and media integration removed. Not sure about gentoo in that area (if anyone has supported a large scale gentoo installation for end users, let us know!). I would imagine people would be looking more at CentOS or openSuse.

SeanDav 13y ago

"Apparently you've never tried gentoo." and this right here (sorry Parent, just using this as an example) is the reason that Linux has always been consigned to the ranks of the also-rans on the desktop. Someone will always come up with a reason why flavour x is better than flavour y. No matter what aspect of Linux is discussed, there will always be a significant proportion of users that think their flavour is better. If you care about Linux on the desktop, you have got to see that people like Mark Shuttleworth are absolutely essential if Linux is ever to compete meaningfully on the desktop with Microsoft and Apple.

89vision 13y ago
"usable" "gentoo" I think I detect a hint of sarcasm
phaemon 13y ago
> and this right here...is the reason that Linux has always been consigned to the ranks of the also-rans on the desktop. Someone will always come up with a reason why flavour x is better than flavour y. No it isn't. The number of people who don't use Linux on their desktop, simply because someone else commented on a forum that they preferred one distribution over another, is utterly negligible. In fact, the theory is just ludicrous!
- scholia 13y ago
  But it does impact companies that might otherwise try pre-installing Linux. Whichever distro they pick, they lose 100% of the Windows market plus the 97%* of the Linux market who bitch about not getting their fave version. * Made up number but I remember Acer shipping netbooks with Linpus Lite...
  - drcube 13y ago
    Not at all. I bought a System 76 laptop that came pre-installed with Ubuntu. But I don't like Ubuntu. However, I knew that Linux ran on it out of the box, and that meant I could run Slackware without worrying about missing drivers, etc. Also, it was a great way to support a company that supports free software. To me, a company that sells pre-installed Linux on decent hardware has my admiration and support, regardless of the distro.

itsjustpiper 13y ago

When you can buy a brand new laptop/tablet/device running gentoo, we can talk. Ubuntu got over that chicken/egg problem where OEMs don't want to ship linux on their computers because it's not popular, and it's not popular because OEMs don't ship linux on their computers. That, in and of itself, is a huge feat. Unfortunately, it can only really mean something for maybe a few years before casual desktop computing is "gone".