Do you think a noob like me has any business installing Gentoo?

Question

The only distros I have used are Ubuntu, OpenSuse, and DSL. Those were all extremely simple to install. I hear that going through the Gentoo install a few times, you learn a lot about linux and you have one hell of a customized system specific to your hardware. Is this likely to be a difficult task?

Answer 1

If you want to learn more about lnux and it workings you definitely should give gentoo a try. It is a little different from the other linux distros but will be customized for your hardware. It does take more work and time to install and keep updated because everything is compiled on your system and takes much longer then installing binaries in ubuntu.

For best results be sure to read the gentoo documentation it is very extensive, complete and very good.

You might need to reinstall 2 or 3 times to get everything setup properly (i did). Also cenck out the gentoo forums for a lot of good support.

Answer 2

I have installed quite a few distros, but have never been able to get Gentoo to work for me, that is one hard distro to get setup but is one heck of a powerful distro. Why not try Sabayon Linux first http://www.sabayon.org/ , or even Papuglinux http://www.papuglinux.net/ which are based off of Gentoo. That way you can get a feel for Gentoo by using a user friendly version. Then jump into Gentoo.

Answer 3

I haven't done it, but I've seen it be done. It doesn't look too difficult. Just have another computer that still runs in case you mess up yours or you need help. if you run into a bump in the road just remember: "everything is only a google search away"

Answer 4

From the experience you've listed, I don't think you can call yourself a "noob" anymore! :-)



Back up your stuff first. That way, if you get into trouble you can't get out of, you can always go back to your tried-and-true alternatives.



Have at it!