Gentoo as my first distro

[Debugger03]

I've been looking around the forums and I've noticed that Gentoo isn't really recommended for first time Linux users, but is it really that difficult for a person with no Linux experience. Any opinions would be greatly apperciated.

[strumbum]

I've been looking around the forums and I've noticed that Gentoo isn't really recommended for first time Linux users, but is it really that difficult for a person with no Linux experience.  Any opinions would be greatly apperciated.

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I started out with SuSE, a great Linux distro, and then went on to Gentoo once I learned the command line options.

I would recommend a similar path. Start out with an easily installed distro, learn the ins and out of linux, and then try gentoo.

[amr_01]

I'd say gentoo is too advanced for someone who has never used linux, or doesn't have much linux experience. You can follow their guide, but you still have to have an understanding for the command line. I'd also suggest something like strumbum said.

[tapo]

I wouldn't recommend Gentoo either, but some learn best by 'diving into the deep end'.

Personally, that worked for me, and I used Debian as a first Linux distro after hours of going on the debian IRC channel and asking questions. It was very frustrating, but I became *very* good at Linux very quickly.

With that said, try it. If you can't figure it out, calm down, brush yourself off, and try another distro. Personally, I'd avoid the RPM-based distros (Mandrake, SuSE, Redhat, Fedora) as they cause dependancy hell. An easier Debian based distro, such as Ubuntu, should be fun to use.

[Erftek]

:woot: I just installed my first linux distro....Ubuntu....very easy! :woot: I like it!

[markwolfe Veteran]

Personally, I'd avoid the RPM-based distros (Mandrake, SuSE, Redhat, Fedora) as they cause dependancy hell.

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My personal experience with Red Hat 5.1 was exactly that, "dependency hell". However, I re-learned on RedHat 7.3, and now use FC3. Using tools like yum and apt-get/synaptic have eliminated any sorts of problems that I used to remember running into. It is now a breeze to install and manage packages. I would not say that they are to be "avoided". They may or may not suit any particular user.

:woot: I just installed my first linux distro....Ubuntu....very easy! :woot:  I like it!

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Congrats! (Y) :fun:

[Debugger03]

Thanks for the input, I've come to understand Ubantu is a good starting distro, I may go with that.

[skybl4ck]

if you did get through gentoo as your first distro you probably wouldn't know about anything you typed in

[Fotix]

I tend to think of

Beginners users' distros (not marketed toward upgrade-aholics who need the latest and greatest Xorg, the newest KDE the minute the developers finish it, or the newest kernel):

Xandros

Linspire

Intermediate users' distros:

Ubuntu

Mandrake

Fedora

Suse

...a whole bunch of others...

Advanced users' distros:

Slackware

Gentoo

This is just one man's opinion. :book:

[msg43]

I tend to think of

Beginners users' distros (not marketed toward upgrade-aholics who need the latest and greatest Xorg, the newest KDE the minute the developers finish it, or the newest kernel):

Xandros

Linspire

Intermediate users' distros:

Ubuntu

Mandrake

Fedora

Suse

...a whole bunch of others...

Advanced users' distros:

Slackware

Gentoo

This is just one man's opinion.  :book:

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You forgot arch for advance!

[Fotix]

Yeah I guess that might belong there too. Unlike the others, I don't have experience in looking into Arch. It seems I forgot Poland too. Mah bad.

:pc:

[thagame]

a while back my friend showed me gentoo. i never tried linux before but read the install guide and installed it first time, even compiled kernel myself, never tried another distro. gentoo was my first and only.

[Debugger03]

Well, than agian, I looked into it, and for all it's worth I think it might be a safe bet to try Gentoo. I know I'm in for a long haul, but I think that once I get my bearings it'd be the better distro for me, thanks for the help and wish me luck!

[Knight']

My first distro was Gentoo. There's nothing hard about Gentoo really, you're just exposed more to what GNU/Linux really is. Portage really does do everything for you though, so, make sure that you learn howto manually compile stuff too, because it's quite easy to forget about this and then put it off. Also, learn howto use /usr/local/portage, basically, Portage can be extended to use custom .ebuild's as well as the ones in the official tree.

Recently, I've switched my laptop to Debian, as compiling stuff can be quite lengthy on slower spec'd machines. That's the ONLY downside of Gentoo, it really is the best distro I think. The way USE flags and rc-update and so on are SO COOL on gentoo, no other distro has features like these.

I think you're making a good decision to go with Gentoo, it may not be the easiest path, but as soon as you start to understand Gentoo the more you grow to appreciate it :)

Good luck (Y)

[LOC Veteran]

I don't know why more people don't know about Vidalinux, I really don't. Possibly because I haven't pimped it enough maybe?!

Use Vidalinux if you want to use Gentoo without making your brain explode installing it. It's Gentoo based (stage 3, but optimized and for amd64 as well) with an Anaconda install. Nice and simple, then you can emerge world the entire thing and have a completely Gentoo optimized system.

[hornett]

There's nothing hard about Gentoo really

Gentoo is a piece of cake, so long as you get no problems during the install. If that happens, having no Linux/*NIX knowledge will make the problem very hard to overcome, since you will have to learn about ls, grep, ps and so on at the same time as trying to solve the problem.

Don't get me wrong, Gentoo is a fine distro (I run it myself) however I think that something like Fedora Core, Ubuntu or Suse might be a better option for an absolute beginner.

Just my 2p. ;)

[Miuku.]

I've been looking around the forums and I've noticed that Gentoo isn't really recommended for first time Linux users, but is it really that difficult for a person with no Linux experience.? Any opinions would be greatly apperciated.

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If you're going to use it in a real working environment, you can flush distributions like Gentoo down the toilet faster than you can say "Whee!". (Nothing against Gentoo, it's just not meant for business environments).

If you've never used 'Unixoids' before, either install Fedora or SuSE.

Then if you want to toy around more, install Gentoo.

Mmm yes, disclaimer: These are my personal opinions. Feel free to flame.

[Knight']

Gentoo is a piece of cake, so long as you get no problems during the install. If that happens, having no Linux/*NIX knowledge will make the problem very hard to overcome, since you will have to learn about ls, grep, ps and so on at the same time as trying to solve the problem.

Don't get me wrong, Gentoo is a fine distro (I run it myself) however I think that something like Fedora Core, Ubuntu or Suse might be a better option for an absolute beginner.

Just my 2p. ;)

585704263[/snapback]

Yep, it's those problems I experienced on the way that showed me howto use a Unix environment, so it depends on what you want ;)

[Kreuger]

I wouldn't go by what others say directly though. Everyone always says Mandrake or Fedora for newbies, I had more problems with the two of those then with Winblows crashing. I'm now running Debian and it's been pretty good so far.

[Crimson Behelit]

I don't know why more people don't know about Vidalinux, I really don't. Possibly because I haven't pimped it enough maybe?!

Use Vidalinux if you want to use Gentoo without making your brain explode installing it. It's Gentoo based (stage 3, but optimized and for amd64 as well) with an Anaconda install. Nice and simple, then you can emerge world the entire thing and have a completely Gentoo optimized system.

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Vidalinux sounds like just what I'm looking for in a distro for my server/seconday desktop. Might I ask if you use it, and if so, can mentions some of the simliarities between it and Gentoo?

I'm using Gentoo for my amd64box (primary desktop computer). I have a fairly decent media server (see sig) that I've been considering to install Gentoo on (but am not willing to spend a weekend setting it up).

Does Vidalinux use the same portage repository as Gentoo? I imagine installing is an emerge away?

[kyro]

yes and no.

yes. its difficult cause no other popular distro has that many steps on command line to install Linux OS.

No. just close ur eyes and follow the voice of installation manual. its a cake .

[LOC Veteran]

Vidalinux sounds like just what I'm looking for in a distro for my server/seconday desktop.  Might I ask if you use it, and if so, can mentions some of the simliarities between it and Gentoo?

I'm using Gentoo for my amd64box (primary desktop computer).  I have a fairly decent media server (see sig) that I've been considering to install Gentoo on (but am not willing to spend a weekend setting it up).

Does Vidalinux use the same portage repository as Gentoo?  I imagine installing is an emerge away?

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It is Gentoo, only with the Anaconda installer. It uses a stage3 install and does everything automagically.

You might want to wait a bit before installing Vidalinux, they are about to release version 1.2 (though they did delay it a bit now) and it has many improvements and additions of course :)

[Alfonz]

I don't know why more people don't know about Vidalinux, I really don't. Possibly because I haven't pimped it enough maybe?!

Use Vidalinux if you want to use Gentoo without making your brain explode installing it. It's Gentoo based (stage 3, but optimized and for amd64 as well) with an Anaconda install. Nice and simple, then you can emerge world the entire thing and have a completely Gentoo optimized system.

585703762[/snapback]

Heh, I'm upgrading portage and Gnome as we speak, only to reformat it come August 1 (hopefully they WILL not push back the release date again)

I couldn't wait another month tho, I missed Gentoo but didn't have the time to go for another Stage 1 install :blush:

[LOC Veteran]

Heh, I'm upgrading portage and Gnome as we speak, only to reformat it come August 1 (hopefully they WILL not push back the release date again)

I couldn't wait another month tho, I missed Gentoo but didn't have the time to go for another Stage 1 install  :blush:

586141966[/snapback]

So I take it you like Vidalinux then? :)