[DefQon]

Although some aspects can be compared with each other, comparisons on a broader sense is hard and sometimes impossible as it depends on what role exactly is that piece of software is intended for.

 

[proton007]

 
It's a little worse than that. What we see now is the equivalent of (80's era no less) Reganomics "Trickle Down" theory. Android being the latest and most prime example. Take one powerhouse distributed computing OS and strip the guts and lowlevel utility out of it and you have Linux and family, Rape that a little more and you now have android where the user (for right or wrong) is so far removed from the platform that it becomes downright dangerous to let them work at the command line.
 
 It's all well and good to make a convenience OS , it just makes die hard system level tasks a much more monuments effort. Administrators and sysops pay a heavy price for the convenience of the end user.
 
 One of the true beauties of an old hardcore UNIX implementation was a well thought out X Window interface for end users, done properly it's surprising how many legitimate complaints there were.

 
Well, I'm not sure where you got the idea that Linux is a stripped down version of a bigger OS.  In that respect all OSs are versions of each other. Some copied, some stole, some borrowed, some came up with alternatives.
 
Unix was made a mess of when it tried to move into the commercial domain. We already know its not the best that always sells, its the best marketed one that sells.
 
Thats why I say that today I find the freedom to choose and customize my OS the way I want to more important than anything else.
Unix lost that battle some time ago. Linux offers that, its free and scalable.

 

[adevriesc]

Any of you guys build a Gentoo kernel? I tried... And it *almost* let me log in. -laughs-

 

[HPuser9083]

Nope. Did set up vanilla Arch successfully in Vbox though. Desktop in use in this screenshot is Xfce with the dual-panel config and the Ambiance Crunchy Blue theme with Malys-Uniblue icons.


 

 

[adevriesc]

Nice. I think my next foray into Linux will be Pear OS. The release may be a bit buggy, but it seems to be worth a shot. (http://pearlinux.fr/) I'm a Windows guy for my gaming machines, but Linux and Mac have unparalleled system resource management.

 

[suicidal_orange]

  Any of you guys build a Gentoo kernel? I tried... And it *almost* let me log in. -laughs-

Not for years, and I've tried every six months or so!  Had a good .config I kept copying into new releases but I had an accident with dd...
 
If you've got as far as a login prompt you've got the kernel right though - did you by any chance forget to set a password before rebooting?

 

[adevriesc]

Username: "root". Password: "toor". Classic, eh? I tried to build that kernel several years ago, yet I remember it like it was yesterday. So much compiling for a P4 @ 2.8 Ghz.
 
Pardon the vague nature of my previous statement - it would crash immediately when the login screen would have switched to the desktop. I think I had all the dependencies right too!

 

[suicidal_orange]

  Username: "root". Password: "toor". Classic, eh? I tried to build that kernel several years ago, yet I remember it like it was yesterday. So much compiling for a P4 @ 2.8 Ghz.
 
Pardon the vague nature of my previous statement - it would crash immediately when the login screen would have switched to the desktop. I think I had all the dependencies right too!

What graphics card are you using?  When you login (depending on your desktop) it might be trying to use 3D so crashing due to drivers - try a fallback, failsafe or similar session if you can. 
 
Also I hope you aren't planning on using root as your daily user, or you might have a dd accident too!

 

[proton007]

  Any of you guys build a Gentoo kernel? I tried... And it *almost* let me log in. -laughs-

 
Gentoo is easy. LFS if you really want to see the magic.

 

[suicidal_orange]

   
Gentoo is easy. LFS if you really want to see the magic.

In theory, but the kernel is where I've been struggling with gentoo in recent years and that's exactly the same. 
 
I would love to do a LFS install just to say I'd done it but while it would be a fun weekend project updates would be a lot of hassle.  Do you use it as your daily OS?

 

[frakturfreak]

Any of you guys build a Gentoo kernel? I tried... And it *almost* let me log in. -laughs-

 


Since Exherbo doesn’t a provide kernel-package as gentoo does I had to at first install.
The .config of the livecd didn’t work because it assumed some paths for an initrd and that was to much work for me to set this all up. So I ended up with make defaultconfig and enabling the stuff I needed. I did cost me about 2 hours.

But now it’s simply updating the config file via make oldconfig.

 

[adevriesc]

Goodness... Yes, I planned on changing the password. I was using a 3D capable graphics card at the time. But I don't even have the PC I was installing it on!
 
It's a pleasant surprise to see so much conversation happening on a Linux thread.

 

[proton007]

In theory, but the kernel is where I've been struggling with gentoo in recent years and that's exactly the same. 

I would love to do a LFS install just to say I'd done it but while it would be a fun weekend project updates would be a lot of hassle.  Do you use it as your daily OS?

Well, it started as a weekend project but extended into the week.
In the end I was able to get openbox running. So yes it was in a usable state. But package management is hard to do yourself.
It was an awesome learning experience though.
I just use Arch for daily use.

 

[suicidal_orange]

 

  Goodness... Yes, I planned on changing the password. I was using a 3D capable graphics card at the time. But I don't even have the PC I was installing it on!
 
It's a pleasant surprise to see so much conversation happening on a Linux thread.

I guess the mention of a P4 should have given that away

  That long ago you didn't need 3D for a desktop though, so my advice is invalid.  Maybe it was trying to run a desktop you didn't have installed, but that shouldn't have crashed...  Maybe you should try again now?
 

Well, it started as a weekend project but extended into the week.
In the end I was able to get openbox running. So yes it was in a usable state. But package management is hard to do yourself.
It was an awesome learning experience though.
I just use Arch for daily use.

As most projects tend to

  I wonder if there's any benefit to be had from replacing all the boot scripts on another distro with custom ones, rather than having to check how to hack things in when updates change how things need to be done.  Congrats on getting as far as a usable desktop anyway, some real dedication there I'm sure.  Now, how much do you remember?

 

[proton007]

   
As most projects tend to

  I wonder if there's any benefit to be had from replacing all the boot scripts on another distro with custom ones, rather than having to check how to hack things in when updates change how things need to be done.  Congrats on getting as far as a usable desktop anyway, some real dedication there I'm sure.  Now, how much do you remember?

 
The real benefit was not the process, I'm sure its pretty standard and the steps are always available if needed. In that respect, whether I remember the steps or not is inconsequential (I do remember the basics though).
The real takeaway was to understand how the system is put together, what all components are present in a distro, how they're built in layers, using make files and config scripts, patching source code, and real use of the command line. Other distros like Arch and Gentoo will maybe give you the information, but not the experience.