[CLUE-Tech] Debian: gpm not installing by default

[Collins]

[ more snips ]

On Sun, 21 Apr 2002 09:41:24 -0600 (MDT) Randy Arabie
<rrarabie at arabie.org> wrote: 
> > On Sat, 20 Apr 2002 22:02:43 -0600 (MDT) jbrockmeier at earthlink.net
> > wrote:> On Sat, 20 Apr 2002, Collins wrote:
> > > 

> > > 
> > > I read a recent review of Gentoo - according to the reviewer,
> > > some of the compile scripts (I forget what they're called)
> > > aren't of the best quality. 
> > 
> > If you install a system from scratch, you won't encounter any of
> > these problems, and your system will be rock solid.  The KDE 3.0
> > package, for example, was perfect if you hadn't tinkered with the
> > Beta releases.
> 
> I've not had any compile problems in my "install from scratch" thus
> far. I did build Opera 6.0, and when I tried to launch it it
> couldn't find libpng.so.2.  I fired off an email to the
> gentoo-newbie list and quickly got a polite response with a
> solution.  I have to build the library, then upgrade it.  However, I
> don't think I'll bother due to Collins mention of the libpng
> problems.
> 

I must repeat, the libpng scenario is most unusual and painful only if
you come upon it unawares, as many did.  There have not been any other
cases like this one.  If you know about it in advance, you can just
remerge the appropriate software and be done with it.  In my case I
was experimenting with running KDE 3 which is a big ticket item in
terms of compile time.  I just remerged xfce and mozilla to get a
running X environment, and then I could let the box churn for the
better part of the day remerging KDE.  At the same time, I decided to
eliminate instead of recompile  GNOME, since I never use it.  Galeon
is nice, but Mozilla has 95% of what galeon offers.  Once again, if
you are installing from the iso, you won't encounter this problem,
because all the packages dependant on libpng will be merged with the
new level of libpng.  

> All my hardware is pretty generic, older, well supported stuff.
> I had no problems at all, WRT networking.  However, my DSL
> connection is:
> 
> ISP --> CISCO678 --> Firewall/Router Box --> LAN
> 
> My firewall/router box does DHCP & DNS for my LAN.  Thus, all I had
> to do was make eth0 dhcpcd enabled.
> 

Yes, most LAN setups are totally transparent.  There are features to
ease the pain for 56K users (download the software overnight, then
install, etc.).  Also, the PPPOE setup can be tricky for some (but not
all) DSL users.  There are quite a handful of laptop users, but each
PMCIA seems to work differently, so there has been a lot of postings
about how to get PMCIA to work (mostly success storeis).  PMCIA is a
problem child on every distro.

> All said, my 72 hour opinion of Gentoo is that the distro VERY good.
>  I should add that I have never tried Debian or Slackware.  I have
>  done many RH installs and one each Corel and Turbo linux.
> 
> Gentoo is not a beginner distro.  There is no GUI partition & HD
> format tool.  The install doco doesn't really coach you through a
> recommended partition scheme or sizing.  You have to do it yourself
> with fdisk.  There is no install script.  You issue commands at the
> prompt, you install your system from a single-user mode shell.
> 

At this point, gentoo terms itself a distro for sysadmins, for the
above reasons among others.  This has not stopped some very raw
newbies from putting up gentoo (successfully, I might add) and
learning a lot in the process.  The gentoo-users list is fairly
tolerant, if you make the effort to do a little research and post the
appropriate error messages.

I started with the distro as a relative newbie (installing Caldera or
Mandrake really doesn't count, because so much is done for you
automatically) about 2 years ago, and it has been a tremendous
learning experience.  I've only managed to break the system once.

One additional note.  Gentoo typically supplies a 2.4.x kernel with
patches, although nothing precludes you from downloading and compling
unpatched kernel sources.  Whenever the patches for performance
improvements are stable (they aren't at the 2.4.19+ level), gentoo
will offer them.  Purists (frequently small minds) scorn this
approach.  I once got a comment from a KDE developer:  "Gentoo, you're
running a patched kernel ... get a real distro"  As though the problem
I reported had anything at all to do with the kernel.

-- 
Collins Richey - Denver Area - WWTLRD?
Gentoo_rc6-15(1.1a) 2.4.19pre - xfce + sylpheed + mozilla