From Source Distros?

[Dave Andruczyk]

--- JJ Neff <jjneff at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm playing a lot with this sun box (ultra10).  I ve had Solaris 7,8,9 on it.
> 
> Debian and now I'm installing gentoo.
> 
> Installing gentoo makes me wonder, what is the true value in installing a
> "from
> source" distro.  I have been working on it for days and still dont have a
> running system.  It takes 3-4 days to get to a desktop like environment
> (KDE,GNOME etc) 
> 
> Debian takes me about one-3 hours total if I have a fast Internet connection
> or
> cds only.  - I tried LFS a few times but always ran out of time.  
> 
> So other than the ever heard "perfectly optimized OS" which I don't know if I
> believe since who knows ALL the optimization options of every piece of
> software.  Please lets discuss the pros and cons (not a fight but a
> discussion
> please:-)

One advantage is you learn a bit more about the low levels of buiilding a
system, which helps you learn some troubleshooting and admin skills that you
wouldn't otherwise devel by using a gui wizard, or "apt-get install package"

Plus for some people (who have too much time on their hands like me) it's
personally gratifying to "roll your own", compared to installing a prebuilt
distro.

I'm installing gentoo on my ultra 30 as  write this,  and it is slow compared
to my dual athlon,  but still a useful machine. (esp for optimizing code, as
not everyone out there has the latest and greatest)


=====
Dave J. Andruczyk

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