Gentoo
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Gentoo.html
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<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 2fr 1fr;">
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<div>
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<p>Gentoo is a great linux distro. I'd argue the best distro for an
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enthusiast/programmer. For those out of the loop, gentoo is a gnu/linux
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distrobution that compiles packages from source. All packages are managed with
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portage by default, and packages are first downloaded and compiled, using
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specific compiler flags for your system. The biggest advantage gentoo provides
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is the use of:</p>
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<blockquote>march="native" -O3</blockquote>
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<p>that line above basically makes the case for gentoo. Allowing the user to choose the
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optimization level used on their system, and compiling for their specific
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processor and all of the optimizations it provides, is simply unmatched.</p>
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<p>Gentoo also lets the user use certain "use flags". A use flag is simply a
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common key word like "X", "GNOME", or "SSL". Different packages may have
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different options that can be enabled at compile time, and gentoo lets the user
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choose what components of a piece of software they would like included when
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building any package. If you don't plan on using KDE for example, but want to
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use gnome, you can just use:</p>
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<blockquote>USE="KDE -GNOME"</blockquote>
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<p>And just like that, you won't compile GNOME support into any of your
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packages. Now you save on disk space and resources that would have gone to
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GNOME support. Just like that your system is a little leaner and runs a little
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faster. Although on modern hardware it may not seem like a huge improvement,
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you'll be amazed just how much faster your system will wind up running.</p>
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<p>Due to Gentoo's lack of any enviroment beyond a bash tty with the base
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installation, the user is also afforded a HUGE variety of choices when setting
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up their working enviroment. Just want something that works? Install
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GNOME/KDE/XFCE and get to work. Comes with a window manager, file manager,
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system utilities such as a settings program, graphical monitor configuration,
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etc. This would be the best option for someone coming from MAC/Windows as
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well.</p>
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<p>If you're the more adventurous type, however, you can make your own working
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enviroment from different pieces of software, or even write your own! Programs
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such as i3/dwm/awesomewm are great to get you going, providing a way to display
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and manage windows, with nothing extra. Dwm lets you add features by modifying
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its source code and compiling it, or using premade patches and applying them to
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add features that you would like. Its similar to the use flag system, but by
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hand instead of being managed by portage.</p>
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<p>Once you have a window manager you can start adding software like web
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browsers, file managers, media players, text editors, and terminal emulators.
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You can build your own enviroment tailored to your work flow, to make the most
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comfy system possible.</p>
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<p>Gentoo also has the advnatage of running on literally <i>anything</i>. Like
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whatever you can think of. Chances are you can run it on that SOC in your
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fridge right now. Due to its nature of being compiled, all you need is a
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working gentoo system, and to setup a cross compiler toolchain. Once you have
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that you just build a bootable gentoo image, flash it to the device of choice,
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and it should be able to compile everything it needs to keep updating forever.
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Raspberry pi's, decade old laptops, your phone (in the works :D),
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that obscure little MIPS machine you have,
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anything. Gentoo is the distro to bring any device back to life!</p>
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<p>Gentoo also happens to be what <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-secret-origins-of-googles-chrome-os/">Chrome
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OS is based on</a>, as well as being
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<a href="https://dberkholz.com/2006/02/02/gentoo-e-trade-and-gentoo/">used for
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High Frequency Trading</a>!</p>
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</div>
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<div>
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<figure>
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<img src="../img/gentoo-3d.png" class="fig-img"></img>
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<figcaption>The Gentoo Logo</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="display: grid; column-grid-template: 1fr 2fr;">
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<div class="col-md">
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<figure>
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<img src="../img/gentoo-powered.png" class="fig-img"></img>
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<figcaption>This server is (sadly) not powered by gentoo, but my laptop
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and soon my phone will be!</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="col-sm-10 mx-2">
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<h4>Common concerns</h4>
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<h5>Compile times</h5>
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<p>If you've been programming for a while, or are familiar with how the build
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process works, you may be thinking "what about compile times?". Thats a valid
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worry, considering <a href="https://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/22435/time-complexity-of-a-compiler">
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the time complexity of a compiler tends to be O(n^2)</a>. Despite this, I find
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that this only effects the intial setup. Because Gentoo has no installer, and
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you have to build up the system yourself from a live enviroment, this can be
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quite a headache if you mess up when installing and have to restart the
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installation process. But on my i7-9750H with 16GBs of ram, in total building
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the base system (no X11, firefox, window manager, etc), only took about half an
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hour. Thats enough time to read through some documentation on whats coming up
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in the installation, research kernel compiler options, or make some good
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coffee.</p>
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<h5>Stability</h5>
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<p>You may be worried about having your system break every week and having to
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waste time fixing it, however I've had no crashes/breaks that were the fault of
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the system. Only issues of me being negligent and not configuring things
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properly. I know that "works on my machine" isn't an argument, however if you
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know how to read man pages, read log files, and understand some jargon, you can
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setup a very stable system within only a few days. I know thats not an answer
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for everyone, but Gentoo doesn't want to be a system for everyone. It wants to
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be a system for those who are willing to put in the time and effort to learn
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how to leverage its customization.</p>
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<h5>Time sink</h5>
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<p>Some worry that its just a pain having to put in so much time to
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troubleshoot the system, to get it working with every piece of hardware on your
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machine, get a working kernel, setup a DE, wait to compile, its just all to
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much of a time sink. Some people just want to get started working on their
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codebase, using a browser, playing their games, etc. I really don't have much a
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counter to this. That is the reality of gentoo, and honestly its not a bad
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thing. If you want to put in the time, you will be rewarded. If you want to
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have something that "just works", then you will get something that is not as
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customized and optimized as you may like. And thats ok, some people want to
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make that sacrifice, I just happen to be someone who sees that time as
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worthwhile.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="row no-gutters">
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<div class="col-sm">
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<h4>How do I get started?</h4>
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<p>You can get started with:</p>
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<ul>
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<li class="link-list-item"><a href="https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Main_Page">Gentoo Wiki</a></li>
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<li class="link-list-item"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv-H13sKrGY">A Gentoo installation tutorial</a></li>
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<li class="link-list-item"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sOfX_Lb1As&t=1s">Another good gentoo installation tutorial</a></li>
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</ul>
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<p>Thats about all I have, I plan on putting up more gentoo related info over
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time. I hope I've convinced you to try the best GNU/Linux distro!</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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