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A Walk Through the Gentoo Linux Install Process
from the ingentoous dept.
Gentoo solved many problems for me. Some distros install everything, whether you really need it or not. Not Gentoo; other than the base packages required for Linux to run, the only software installed on the system is the software you put there. Gentoo resolves dependencies automatically, eliminating RPM prerequisite hell. As an added bonus I got something I wasn't even expecting. Speed. Blinding, blazing, incredible speed.
The main advantage to the Gentoo distribution is Portage, a python-based ports system similar to BSD ports. For those of you unfamiliar with BSD ports, Portage is a package management tool that downloads and installs source instead of precompiled packages. When I need a program I download, install and compile it with one command:
emerge nmap
The above will download the nmap source code, compile and install it. Of course this method is slow, but it has its rewards. You can also opt to use prebuilt binaries if you are not extremely patient. It took me five hours to get the base Gentoo installed on my PIII with 128 megs of ram. It wasn't a big deal as I had other things to do, but I would like to see the installation process optimized so that it doesn't require any babysitting.
Gentoo is running two of my mission-critical servers right now, I consider it to be stable and mature. A warning, though: this is not a distribution for dummies. This is bare metal Linux, powerful and dangerous. If you do something without thinking you may fall into a bucket of pain.
Let's begin my story.
I download the iso from http://www.ibiblio.org/gentoo/releases/build /. There is a choice of install images here. My favorite way of installing Gentoo is to compile everything, a time consuming process. This method requires a slim 16-meg iso. You may want to grab an iso with pre-built binaries to speed things up, however. This fat iso weighs in at 103 meg. I download the big one with the prebuilt binaries even though I won't use them -- just in case.
I boot my laptop with my shiny new Gentoo CD. The Gentoo install uses isolinux by Peter Anvin. I like the fact that they don't obscure it, giving credit where it is due. It boots quickly and there is a PCI autodetection process, it shouldn't find much on my laptop. Interesting, it loads a SCSI module. Perhaps it has detected my IDE CD burner. Usually this will detect any PCI NIC cards that are installed, but it does not detect my PCMCIA device (of course). After the PCI detection I get a command prompt. I use nano (a small text editor) to open up install.txt, the excellent install doc. Usually these docs are sufficient but the latest ones can be found here:
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/build.html
Keeping the install doc open in this virtual terminal, I hit alt-f2 to open a new one. I begin by loading the pcmcia drivers and installing networking. This is all done at the command line ( insmod, ifconfig, route, dhcpcd, etc.). I use nano to add my DNS servers to /etc/resolv.conf. A word of caution; get in the habit of always using the -w switch with nano. If you do not use the -w switch nano's word wrap feature will jack up your config files. I ping a reliable site, networking is up!
Next I partition my system using fdisk. I choose a simple layout with a swap partition, a root partition and a small boot partition. The boot partition remains unmounted during use, a nice precaution. For filesystems you have a choice of ext2, ext3, ReiserFS and XFS. In my personal experience I've noticed that Reiser performance really rocks when combined with SCSI drives, but as this is an IDE system I think I'll go with XFS. Besides, the XFS tools seem to be a lot more mature than the offerings from Reiser. I format and mount the partitions from the command line creating a /mnt/gentoo directory. I then untar the root filesystem; here I have the choice of the small tarball that requires you to compile everything or a larger tarball that contains pre-built binaries. If you untar the big guy you are almost finished with your install at this point. Using chroot and some scripts you chroot the /mnt/gentoo directory. From this point on you are operating under your new gentoo system.
The first thing I do under my chrooted system is issue this command:
emerge rsync
This downloads the latest version of the portage tree. The portage tree is found under /usr/portage and contains the ebuild scripts used to compile/install programs. Currently there are over 1000 up to date emerge sripts. Next I edit /etc/make.conf, here I can choose compiler settings. I optimize everything for i686. Now it's time to build the GNU compiler and libraries. I run the bootstrap script and leave for lunch. On my PIII 500 the boostrap process takes 2 hours and 2 minutes.
The second emerge command I issue is:
emerge system
Now emerge downloads, compiles and installs my base system packages. I sit back, relax and take the time to fax my legislators a rant about the DMCA. One hour and 30 minutes later it is finished.
Now it is time to download and install the kernel. First I make a link updating my timezone, and then I issue another emerge command:
emerge linux-sources
This grabs the latest kernel, 2.4.19, and drops the source in /usr/src/linux. Ten minutes have elapsed. Now comes the fun, compiling your kernel. That's right, everyone who installs Gentoo compiles their own kernel as a matter of process. I like this. There are some distributions out there that actually say you should never compile your own kernel. Shame on them. I use make menuconfig and the standard commands to compile my kernel. Since Gentoo uses devfs I select /dev file system support and I am also careful to compile in support for XFS. I don't have the kernel mount devfs automatically at boot as the Gentoo startup scripts take care of this for me. Virtual Memory file system support is also enabled.
At this point in time I get to choose a logger. My choices are sysklogd, syslog-ng or metalog. I choose metalog, because it's got the coolest name. I download, compile and install it using a single command:
emerge metalog
XFS has some nice utilities, I better install those. I have some other essential programs to install, and I'm feeling a bit lazy so I chain them all in one big command.
emerge xfsprogs;emerge bitchx;emerge vim;emerge links
At this point I'm feeling pretty 7-Up. I edit my /etc/fstab file, my /etc/hostname file and /etc/hosts. The passwd command is run to set the root passwd. I add my NIC module to the file /etc/modules.autoload and edit /etc/conf.d/net. conf.d/net allows me to configure my IP address and settings, default gateway and alias. I take a look at /etc/init.d/net.eth0, even though I don't need to edit it. I can then add it to the startup script using this command:rc-update add net.eth0 default
This adds the script to the default runlevel to be executed at startup. Startup scripts are another place Gentoo really shines. The startup scripts have a system of dependencies. For example net.eth0 can depend on pcmcia. The pcmcia drivers get loaded before net.eth0 - this is good.
Next I install grub. If you haven't used grub before, it's nice. You can boot to a kernel directly from the grub shell, without having to edit a config file. lilo is still available, for those of you who prefer it. Gentoo likes to let you make the decisions.
I exit my chrooted shell and unmount all directories. Reboot! Gentoo comes up and the install process is complete.
The Gentoo install process has taught me a lot about Linux, and I like the fact that the command line is embraced, instead of hidden behind gui or scripts. I also like the speed (which is debatable since all I can supply is anecdotal evidence). I wasn't too happy about waiting five hours for everything to compile, but I think it was worth it. I can tell you it compiles and greps noticeably faster than other distros I have run on the exact same machines. I really enjoy using portage, and the packages seem to stay up to date -- if not bleeding edge. This is not a conservative distribution like Debian, however I like the aggressive and intelligent direction gentoo is taking.
If you are considering trying out Gentoo I highly suggest #gentoo on irc.openprojects.net. Also subscribe to the mailing lists found at www.gentoo.org. The Gentoo community has helped me out of several jams in the past, I think they will treat you good too.
While writing this, I received help from a lot of people. However I would like to personally thank the people I ripped off word for word. Thanks notafurry of www.kuro5hin.org for your pointed help with the stilted second paragraph and thank you Ween from #gentoo on openprojects.net for your clean description of portage.
k5 (Score:3, Funny)
Once again demonstrating that k5 has better and more timely news than /.
Oh god. What have I done? No, k5 sucks. Really. Stay away. Stay far, far away. You have absolutely no desire to get a k5 account.
All these words... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Gentoo Linux Acronyms (Score:4, Funny)
Slightly off-topic (Score:1)
For you existing Gentoo'ers (Score:5, Informative)
It's in alpha stage right now, but I'll add features as we go a long. Any suggestions [mailto] would be appreciated. You must signup first in order to post your compile times.
Hopefully at some point, one willbe able to get a sense of how long it would take to install, say kde3.
How about some user testing on distro websites? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think Debian, for example, is a fine installation. I've used it frequently. But the website really irritated me when I needed to find some specific floppy images and hardware support the other day. I got so frustrated that I finally gave up and went to FreeBSD. It's far from perfect, but I found what I was looking for in short order and quickly had the machine up and running.
Here's a question for anyone involved in the production of ANY distro out there: Is there ANY form of usability testing that goes into these sites? What's the process these people are using for designing the sites?
My Experience (Score:3, Interesting)
My only problem with the installation was that it didn't like the partitions I made with Partition Magic. It installed fine, but afterword when I tried to setup Grub, the
It was rather annoying, the babysitting. You just have to sit there an type in a lame command or two now and then. Why can't the installer do that for me?
In summary, use Gentoo because it's not-bloated, fast, easier than Debian (in my opinion), and Portage is great.
rock (Score:5, Interesting)
Hey, what the hell is this? (Score:5, Funny)
Real Linux (Score:1, Interesting)
This is truly the way to make a customized system. The Problem with the BSD ports system is that It tells you what is the best version to run. If you do it this way you will have a complete understanding of your system.
In Short: If you really want a geeked out version of linux. Do it from scratch with LFS.
Minor nit (Score:5, Informative)
There are 3 debians, at varying degrees of 'conservativyosity'
Stable: Potato is dead stable and conservative. To put it another way: it's old, and you probably wouldn't want it on your desktop.
Testing: Woody is very stable (IME more stable than RH FWIW), and quite up to date (g++ 3 etc)
Unstable: Not sure of the name because I wouldn't use it. I don't know how stable it is, but I am thinking that it's quite up to date with the latest releases.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make in a rather longwinded mannar, is that debian will be as conservative as you want it to be. There is always a tradeoff between "up to date" and "no nasty surprises" debian is very honest about letting you choose.
menu... (Score:1)
Metadistribution? (Score:4, Funny)
Is it like: "I never metadistribution I didn't like?"
; )
My Gentoo Install (Score:4, Informative)
Upgrading to a new version of gentoo is easy, and straight forward with the Portage system. There is no need to reinstall, like some flavors of linux, just a simple emerge --update system and an emerge --update world.
The distro is fast - in fact - much faster than my mandrake box I had on my desktop (before I migrated to gentoo). I have no benchmarks, but the bloat is gone, and the speed is there.
2.4.19? (Score:1)
LVM? (Score:2)
Sorcerer and LFS (Score:1)
There is also LFS at http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ which is a Source based distribution where you type all of the commands.
Has anyone compared Rock, Gentoo, Sourcerer and LFS?
re-compiling everthing (Score:1)
Afterall, there's always Extraterrestrial [berkeley.edu] life to search for, encryption [distributed.net] to break, or maybe even a cure [ud.com] for cancer. Do we all really need to re-compile rsync?
Definitely dangerous (Score:1, Informative)
I learned this lesson the hard way. I installed a new kernel manually, rather than letting Portage handle it. I must have missed something, because now a growing list of stuff won't compile and all my efforts to fix it have only exacerbated the problem, so I guess it's time to reinstall. Other than that little foul up (not the distro's fault), it's been smooth sailing. Just remember to update the config files when Portage tells you to.
Sounds like the Apafche Toolkit (Score:1)
AT has the same problems as gentoo, the babysitting. Seems to me that this is a case of needing to figure out up front what questions need to be asked. The scripts for how to a build a particular component should contain that info. If you specify that you want to build under apache the jakarta stuff, you actually need Java, jakarta-ant, and Jakarta-tomcat.
This is probably what makes Red Hat so successful: they have most of the dependencies front loaded so you don't need to baby sit for the long installs.
It's true, you know! (Score:4, Interesting)
Not to start a distro war, but I always thought linux distros fall into 2 categories; on one side the colorful, happy-newbie distros with many good features and nice interfaces, but ultimately dreadful underbelly that you get exposed to when things go wrong. On the other hand are distros like slack and debian; will install on anything initially, run fine, and if something goes wrong, they're as transparent as can be and tweakable as hell.
Problem with slack is that the community is slowly dwindling. Security updates get less frequent, packages are updated and maintained at a slower pace, ultimately making most of the stuff installed non-distro specific and thereby more complex and harder to update.
Gentoo is as open and simple as slack, just as tweakable and in active development. If the community doesn't get discouraged with some early troubles with the portage system and documentation proliferates, there is a very bright future for the distro.
Have to agree with the review (Score:1)
Sounds like an automated LFS (Score:3, Informative)
I have a R*dh*t box at work (that was set up by a total incompetent, which makes things even worse) that's screaming for an upgrade...while I can get LFS going in not much time now, I think I'll end up giving Gentoo a shot when the time comes.
Tip for i686 users (Score:4, Informative)
You'll still have to install X and apps and the kernel, but at least the base will be taken care of.
Switched to Gentoo 6 months ago from FreeBSD/Linux setup and haven't looked back since.
Even put it on a new production server. Very nice.
Have fun with what IMHO is the BEST distrib around!
Yeah, right. (Score:4, Insightful)
That in itself is the main gripe. Bandwidth is the biggest problem. I can bring my computer to my college to download an image (or few). It's big, but once a few months isn't bad. However, all I've got is a modem connection at home (and I'm sure gentoo's program doesnt support resuming). What?! KDE desnt come with it? Guess I'll have to download it. (a day and a half later)... Still isn't done! DAMN! Heh, and then comes compile-time.
Face it, this distribution is for high bandwidth connections, not for us modem users. And what's really funny is that just yesterday, Slashdot posts article: "Time Warner to Charge Extra for Over-Quota Bandwidth". Yeah, these go together real well.... Reeeeal well.
Re:Yeah, right. (Score:4, Interesting)
This distribution SOUNDS nice, but plain sucks in practice.
No, this distribution IS nice, but it plain sucks for YOU in practice.
That in itself is the main gripe. Bandwidth is the biggest problem.
Keep in mind, this is YOUR gripe. Bandwidth is only a problem if you are intending on downloading a lot of data,
- like this distribution is designed to do from the ground on up.
Face it, this distribution is for high bandwidth connections, not for us modem users.
So?? How is that a bad thing? Don't use it. Not every distribution was designed for home modem users. I have lots of bandwidth, and am happy that I can compile the entire OS from scratch, using up-to-date sources. Are you going to demand that Debian remove the net install option, too?
You wouldn't be surprised that a PPC distribution doesn't work well on your x86. Dont't be surprised when this bandwidth-required distro doesn't work well on your bandwidth-lacking machine.
I think Daniel (& co.) has done an absolutely awesome job on Gentoo Linux, and deserves compliments, not people criticizing him for designing HIS distribution exactly the way he wants.
compiler (Score:5, Interesting)
The icc license should be ok for home users to compile programs for their own use with it. I think you only have to buy the license if you plan on distributing binaries.
Gentoo Rocks (Score:1)
I have to say I am in love, fast, slim system
with only what I want and need, and its easy.
I messed with LFS for a while, and sorcerer as well,
LFS is kinda a pain, too much typing/babysitting, sorcerer never quite worked right.
Looking for a good source based distro?
This is IT. Portage is very nice, so far, I'm always downloading the source at my bandwidth limits. I like it.
What I would like to see (Score:2)
Basically I install my distro, say Suse, with everything I want, then type somthing like 'compile all' and have it automatically recompile everything. A nice extra would be if it could grab the source from my choice of locations:HD, DVD,CD,Net, etc...
Quite frankly I'm getting a little burned out on tweaking my system. I just want to use it, and spend time with my kids.
Installation Process Still Too Complicated (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm fortunate enough to have "Linux friend" who helps me.. but more often than not they type and I watch. I've made attempts at installing Slackware, Gentoo and Debian. The most recent attempt (successful) involved my friend spending quite a bit of time battling away at the console to download the latest Debian bits. So I now have a working KDE system that I can play around with to learn the ropes. And this is what I wanted.
But the biggest problem I faced when trying to learn Linux is the installation process. It's discouraged me no end. In my defense, I'm not stupid, I'm actually a software engineer, although yes.. purely windows (and no, not VB).
My point (getting there) is that you can say what you will about windows but it beats Linux hands down on the installation. Until the Linux installation process becomes as simple as booting from a CD and clicking "Next" a few hundred times, it will not have the user base it deserves.
I know there's plenty of documentation, help, support, walkthroughs etc.. etc.. but it's just not enough. I haven't found a distribution with a one-off graphical installer (and neither has my friend). There's always a bunch of commands you're going to have to learn and instructions to follow. For many (including myself), this is too daunting, and I don't want to spend a great deal of time reading up on something beforehand.
I'm not trying to troll here I just think that until we see more distributions with simpler-than-simple installers, Linux will very much remain "underground".
So if there's no distribution that does this already, can a Linux code-monkey write an app for windows that downloads and burns the desired Linux, then having booted from the CD, walks you through from start to finish, clicking on "Next" and "OK" etc..?
Gentoo Also Available For PPC(Mac) Heads (Score:2, Informative)
To those who would like to try Gentoo on your spiffy new TiBooks, iBooks, and other expensive Mac hardware, it is my great pleasure to present...
Gentoo-PPC [sunsite.dk]
I did it in about a week on my TiBook [apple.com] and with some luck and great help is now available from http://gentooppc.sunsite.dk/ [sunsite.dk].
Think Different. :p
Kain
That "RPM dependency hell." (Score:5, Insightful)
The leadin says that Gentoo eliminates all that RPM dependency hell. I agree, that's how most newcomers to the RPM scheme see it. A lack of higher tools and a lack of understanding has left many a new RPM user crying in frustration.
I haven't used Gentoo yet, and it may be the greatest thing since sliced bread. In the interests of helping newcomers who try RPM-based distros, however, a couple of points...
RPM is a package format, and rpm is the low-level tool that deals with those files. If you use rpm directly, you'll have to deal with the deluge of interconnecting dependencies yourself. However, it was not designed to be the sole front-line tool, it's the workhorse.
Unlike the Debian strains which all adopted the apt-get tool, each RPM-based distro has gone their own way with dependency management. Debian doesn't seem to focus so much on a distinction between dependency management and package management.
This dependency management is typically the commercialized aspect of the commercialized distro market: pay a value-added subscription fee for the ease of using a simplified network based package update/installer as a service, as well as some preferential bandwidth considerations. Faster downloads, push-down email notices, scheduled automatic installations, and other value-added services are attractive to corporate and casual users.
Service tools like up2date, redcarpet, and the like are the intended front-ends that use the rpm mechanisms to seek, download, validate, and install packages.
Much of the problem with package systems, rpm or deb, lies in the unorganized and untested packages produced haphazardly by small project folks, and the ad-hoc installations by casual users. The end users try rpm directly, or the weak gui equivalents, and at the first sign of dependency problems, they start using --nodeps or --force. Paraphrasing Asimov, "--force is the last refuge of the incompetent." The surest way to bollox an RPM machine is to --force a few packages or remove them with --nodeps, leaving a patchwork of unsatisfied dependencies. The surest way for a package maintainer to encourage such destruction is to blindly make packages that depend on too much, or too little.
Package management needs to grow up, and recognize the experimenter's needs: add tools at whim, try it a while, and remove it.
One: If you're not an expert, and want to play with a package for a bit, see if one is produced by your distribution first. Failing that, then see if someone's made a package intended for your version of your distribution. Unless you're going to spend the time reading the source code, it's usually a waste of time and energy to rebuild a package, and it'll be less compatible with your distro anyway.
Two: If you manage a package, and your program can use X or libaudio or whatever but doesn't absolutely require it, then consider making two packages or making your program smart enough to use what's present at runtime, rather than blindly depend on it being present at installation time.
Three: The key to user-interface design is that the interface needs to understand the user. Not the other way around. Focus on the needs of the expected types of user: neophyte through master. If you're new, --help and RTFM aren't enough. Don't just teach the user to fulfill the tool's needs, teach your tool to anticipate the user's goals. Don't just teach people to use RPM directly, but instead provide smooth tools that use RPM behind-the-scenes.
This has gotten longer than I expected; I'd appreciate constructive replies.
Re:That "RPM dependency hell." (Score:5, Informative)
The reason that tools like apt-get work very well with Debian is that all 8,000 packages are actually forced to follow guidelines before they are accepted. They also _are_ tested before they get into "testing" from "unstable", and tested even more thoroughly before "stable" is released. There is a policy that actually exists, and it is adhered to strictly.
In regards to your "multiple versions" suggestion, Debian does this quite frequently. If a package has a version with a Gnome GUI, but can be used without it, Debian will have a base package for that software, and another package you can install for the Gnome GUI. A similar thing is done with PHP and the various modules (PostgreSQL support, etc.).
To comment on another poster's reply: apt never automatically installs anything for you. If the package you requested to install has unmet dependencies, it will prompt you with the names of the packages which need to be installed/removed, and not continue unless you confirm.
FreeBSD (Score:1)
I'm a new gentoo user (Score:2, Interesting)
Speed, speed, speed 0 just like the author stated
the docs are excellent - I spent a half day figureing out how to st up the nvidia drivers and x, just becasue I didn't read the docs. I finally read the desktop guide, and it had everything I needed.
Maturity - I've also installed sorcerer (the latest release) and while I like it I think gentoio is more mature. No glitches during the install - sorcerer has some kde hangups. No slight to sorcerer, I just think gentoo has had more time to work out the bugs
tip for installs (Score:5, Informative)
emerge evolution galeon lynx nessus xmms
and it gets x, gnome, and all the bells and whistles that I need to run on my system, based on the USE variable set in my make.conf. Do the above and you can leave it go while you go to work or sleep and be assured that things went nicely.
I'll also mention that if you do
emerge evolution; emerge galeon;
It will have the advantage of compiling in series, and thus maybe catching some things that you don't have to redo later, but the disadvantage of failing multiple times on something that does not have a perfect build script, and you can't track down what caused it. I do it with
emerge evolution galeon
because you can see what died easier (the last thing on the screen.
I've had it for about two months now (Score:2, Informative)
Somone wanna get a Gentoo Icon in here... (Score:1)
Kudos to the Gentoo!
gentoo vs. sorcerer (Score:1)
I'm one of those users that uses quite a lot of different distro's, and who alway wants to be on the 'edge'. So one day I came across Gentoo and it's cousing Sorcerer.
Of course, I had to try them both...
And what do I think about them?
I'll say this: Sorcerer's still running mighty fine on my laptop, but I've thrown gentoo off of my desktop machine. I've never gotten Gentoo to run 100% ok as a desktop system with the Gnome desktop.
And I do think that gentoo's installation procedure should be simpler. It might be targeted at an experienced linux user, but I do like some automation. Also a nice menu system for the portage tree would be nice.
Too bad Sorcerer's going down because of politics... (prove me wrong, Kyle!)
Gentoo Etymology (Why's it called that?) (Score:2)
So here's some obligatory Gentoo links for you zoologoy freaks:
Seriously though, Gentoo Linux [gentoo.org] sounds really cool. I'm a die-hard Debian [debian.org] guy (especially with Woody [debian.org] going stable in May)... but I plan on giving Gentoo a try this week. And I wish the best to the developers.Optimum compiler settings (Score:1)
This is one thing I've always been curious about. What "really" are the best gcc CFLAGS for i586, i686, AMD K6-2, etc?
considering they are just using regular gcc and not pgcc like Mandrake, what settings should be used? is there a site someware that lists these settings?
Thanks.
awwww, come on. (Score:2)
aren't you going to tell us what it is?
Much quicker than Windows (Score:2)
Hmmm, much quicker than Windows. I did a WinME install last month. It took me most of a Saturday. Reboot. Click "yes". Reboot. Click "yes". Reboot. Install driver. Reboot. Reinstall driver. Reboot. ad infinitum.
I haven't used Gentoo yet, but I can install FreeBSD, including sources, in about seven minutes. Add another five minutes in if I also install XFree86, KDE, Xmms, Mozilla, Linux support, etc.
The one thing about Gentoo nobody mentions... (Score:2, Insightful)
After evolving from Mandrake and other n3wb distros, the typical linux user has the choice between Slackware, Debian, and LFS style distros. All of them are great for proclaiming one's leetness. Just being able to go through the installation process of any of the aforementioned is a testament to manliness even penis length cannot surmount.
But what to do after that? Sure you got a badassed mofo distro, but it looks like shit! LFS and Slack use the horrid BSD style init-scripts (don't flame me...just from my experience from atleast a few years back, not that slack's updated versions since then
Gentoo has all that and more. By default, it sets up color terminals for all users. No more fidgeting with
And you can do it all with full colour ls listings. And that's enough rambling and bitching for me today.
Behold Ports in all it's glory (Score:1)
Enjoy!
/usr/gnome (Score:1)
copy of a copy (Score:1)
it says everything you did and more.
i hate when people rewrite things to sound like they know things.
other than that Gentoo all the way!!
Re:Vmware install (scsi) (Score:1)
Re:53. (Score:1)
go to efnet:#xian and tell them of your pains. at least he had something interesting, although quite offtopic to say.
Re:if you type $emerge mozilla (Score:2, Informative)
This isn't exactly what happens.
Warning: ebuild spoiler follows
In conclusion, I'm sorry, but there will be no Gentoo Effect [bnl.gov].
Kain
Re:Fuck LInux (Score:1)
Or, you could use a distro that provides precompiled binary packages of GCC, like just about every other distro. Linux is about choices; if you don't like how your distro works, change it yourself or get another distro.
Re:Fuck LInux (Score:1)