Re: [tlug] Linux distro!: Centos is RHEL

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 20/04/2008, SL Baur <steve@example.com> wrote:

> On 4/19/08, jep200404 <jep200404@example.com> wrote:
>
>  >  How many folks are using the same distro they used ten years ago?
>  >  How many of today's distros will be around ten years from now?
>  >  Methinks you've painted yourself into a corner.
>  >  You'll likely have to make some compromise with yourself.

Unless you use a meta-distro. I have been using Gentoo for at least
five years (Scott, do you remember exactly when you introduced it to
me?), and imagine that I will be indefinitely.

> I would be, if my equipment hadn't all disappeared.  I'm recovering
>  Steve/Linux now, but there's less point in rehabilitating that than R-HEL
>  4 as I need something modern to start from and these are work machines,
>  so I can't spend too much time fiddling around.

This is why I would recommend Gentoo. You start from the latest stable
kernel (and it is easy to apply your own definition of stable), then
keep your system as up-to-date as *you* choose.

Gentoo works really well with the don't fix what ain't broken school
of thought. It allows you access to the bleeding edge if you like (as
the official Portage tree typically tracks the bleeding edge fairly
closely, if you set the unstable keywords), but you are free to make
that decision on a per-package basis. Also, it is very easy to package
new software or new versions, as an "ebuild" (which is the Gentoo
version of a RPM .spec file) is nothing more than a bash script
(making heavy use of the Portage libraries, of course--or at least one
would hope).

As Scott pointed out, Gentoo has some of the best documentation of any
Linux distro (IMO, at least), and several members of this list are
quite 詳しい with it--I myself am a developer, so you have a pipeline to
the Portage tree if you need it.

I think Gentoo will make most of your Linux dreams come true, as it is
quite easy to maintain a Steve/Linux distro, Gentoo being a
meta-distro.

The only downside is compile times, but I have not really been
bothered by that even on my Pentium Mobile 800MHz Dell laptop. I don't
compile things like Firefox, OpenOffice, Thunderbird, and Eclipse, and
everything else compiles in a reasonable (to me, at least) amount of
time.

Ask Steve T. what he thinks of Gentoo.

>  10 years from now, I hope my oldest son has been sufficiently motivated
>  to have made his own distro and I'll be using that.

How old is he now? I have a one year old son, and I'm giving him a
締め切り of five years from now... ;)

>  Speaking of which, hey Steve, when is Akane/Linux v1.0 scheduled to be released?

Right around the time the book describing it is release, right Steve?
In two months, I may actually have some time to start working on a
chapter or two...

-- 
Cheers,
Josh