| Gentoo -- it's not for everyone |
May 01, 2006
First things first. Gentoo is not for everyone.
While Gentoo makes working with source code for everything from the kernel to the most minor utility program as easy as possible, this is no distribution for someone whose idea of installing a Linux application starts and ends with SUSE's YAST or Linspire's CNR (click and run).
But, over at our sister publication, eWEEK, reviewer Jason Brooks found that Gentoo Linux 2006.0, the latest and greatest, is just what expert Linux users need for for testing out new software components.
It's not, however, a Linux system that you want to drop into a production environment. Gentoo takes the concept of "roll your own" distributions to its logical conclusion. With Gentoo, everything, and I mean everything can be set up just the way you want it to be set. After all, as Brooks points out, this is a distribution that comes with 21 different Linux kernels.
That's great, but Gentoo's not the distribution you want to use if you need to support a hundred different desktops and servers.
Still, this latest Gentoo is a lot easier for a new user to approach than the older editions. With 2006.0, users finally get a graphical installer. If you're a tried and true Gentoo user, however, you can still use the command line interface.
As for myself, I may have started with Unixes that came on nine-track tapes and always had command line interfaces rather than over a high-speed net connection with a lovely graphical interface, but I'd rather work with a modern interface these days. It's nice knowing that I can dig down to the command line and configuration files when I need to, but when I just want to get a system up with the most commonly used options, I'd rather click and go.
However, when it's time to get down and dirty with what's what in the latest application or library, I can't imagine a better distribution than Gentoo. It's not for anyone all the time, it's not for everyone some of the time, but for some Linux experts some of the time, it's The distribution.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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