What is Gentoo?
Gentoo is a free linux based operating system. It is one of the many linux distributions, and it is free as in freedom. That means you can get it for 0$, and you're free to do what the hell you want with it. You can edit the source code, change it the way you want, redistribute it, even sell it, but you can't stop other people from doing the same thing :). Awesome.
Why is Gentoo so cool?
An operating system is a tool. Its purpose is to be useful to its users. Generally, operating systems are designed to match the common needs of the majority of users. While most operating systems aim to satisfy the common needs the users have, they all lack satisfying all the needs of any single user.
Gentoo is different. Gentoo is designed to be highly configurable, making it able to satisfy every need of any of its users, but not until they configure it themselves :).That means that if a user doesn't have the needed knowledge of Gentoo, he/she won't be able to use it. But if one does have knowledge of it, one''s system will run exactly matching the one's needs.
Now to make it clear, you can configure _any_ operating system to work in any possible way and do whatever you want, but none as easy as Gentoo. Meaning, theoretically you can make the fastest OS in the world even by editing a Windows system(note that it would be illegal to do so), but you'd have to mess with registries and hex codes and it would take u a lifetime :P.
What comes from all that configurability?
Simply: top performances, practical environment, and ease of use(of course, for those users that has being configured for). So one Gentoo system will be perfect for one type of users, but hard/impractical or even unusable for some other type of users.
Who needs Gentoo?
One of the most important differences, the hearth of Gentoo - Portage.
What is Portage?
We can say that Portage is the software distribution system for Gentoo. Its job is to make sure that the user doesn't care for finding the software needed, downloading it, and installing it(the things you'd have to do on windows). Most of the linux distributions out there have these 'software distribution systems' called "package managers". A package manager is a collection of tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages from a computer.
The difference between Portage and the other package managers is that Portage(in most cases) downloads the source code of a software package, and compiles it locally, making customized builds specific for the hardware it's built for(if specified by the user), making them run faster and more stable. That's right, they run faster!
How does that look like?
Lets say I want to install xchat. Therefore I type in the console:
And if after a week(or month) I want to update all the programs on my system, I could just type in:
Of course, there's a lot more of what Portage can do, and what people should know for effectively using it, but we don't want to confuse the newcomers, so I won't go in depth.
Now of course, a package manager that doesn't build the source code locally, and gets the already precompiled packages in binaries directly, would be much faster than Portage. And most of them are. It takes 15 seconds to installl xchat on ubuntu, and few minutes to do it on Gentoo. But the packages built locally with customized options for the architecture they're running on, DO run faster and more stable. Now you may say, what if some huge package like OpenOffice takes whole day to install on some computers, what if I'm not that much of a performance maniac and want my installations to be quick. Portage has precompiled binary packages for many programs already(usually big programs that would require lots of time for building locally), and gives you the choice of whether to build it locally, or download the already built packages. Can't get any better.
Gentoo is all about choice, performance, and freedom. If you're unsure of whether Gentoo is or isn't for you, don't be afraid to try it. You might love it ;)
Gentoo is a free linux based operating system. It is one of the many linux distributions, and it is free as in freedom. That means you can get it for 0$, and you're free to do what the hell you want with it. You can edit the source code, change it the way you want, redistribute it, even sell it, but you can't stop other people from doing the same thing :). Awesome.
Why is Gentoo so cool?
An operating system is a tool. Its purpose is to be useful to its users. Generally, operating systems are designed to match the common needs of the majority of users. While most operating systems aim to satisfy the common needs the users have, they all lack satisfying all the needs of any single user.
Gentoo is different. Gentoo is designed to be highly configurable, making it able to satisfy every need of any of its users, but not until they configure it themselves :).That means that if a user doesn't have the needed knowledge of Gentoo, he/she won't be able to use it. But if one does have knowledge of it, one''s system will run exactly matching the one's needs.
Now to make it clear, you can configure _any_ operating system to work in any possible way and do whatever you want, but none as easy as Gentoo. Meaning, theoretically you can make the fastest OS in the world even by editing a Windows system(note that it would be illegal to do so), but you'd have to mess with registries and hex codes and it would take u a lifetime :P.
What comes from all that configurability?
Simply: top performances, practical environment, and ease of use(of course, for those users that has being configured for). So one Gentoo system will be perfect for one type of users, but hard/impractical or even unusable for some other type of users.
Who needs Gentoo?
- People who want top performances
- People who want to know what their system is made of
- People who want highly configurable systems
One of the most important differences, the hearth of Gentoo - Portage.
What is Portage?
We can say that Portage is the software distribution system for Gentoo. Its job is to make sure that the user doesn't care for finding the software needed, downloading it, and installing it(the things you'd have to do on windows). Most of the linux distributions out there have these 'software distribution systems' called "package managers". A package manager is a collection of tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages from a computer.
The difference between Portage and the other package managers is that Portage(in most cases) downloads the source code of a software package, and compiles it locally, making customized builds specific for the hardware it's built for(if specified by the user), making them run faster and more stable. That's right, they run faster!
How does that look like?
Lets say I want to install xchat. Therefore I type in the console:
#emerge xchatand voila, portage downloads the source code for the newest stable version of xchat(I can even order it not to care about stability and get the freshest version), builds it, and after a couple of minutes of careless whistling , I have xchat working. Isn't that great?
And if after a week(or month) I want to update all the programs on my system, I could just type in:
#emerge -uDN -av worldAnd everything on my system would get upgraded to its latest version. Lovely :)
Of course, there's a lot more of what Portage can do, and what people should know for effectively using it, but we don't want to confuse the newcomers, so I won't go in depth.
Now of course, a package manager that doesn't build the source code locally, and gets the already precompiled packages in binaries directly, would be much faster than Portage. And most of them are. It takes 15 seconds to installl xchat on ubuntu, and few minutes to do it on Gentoo. But the packages built locally with customized options for the architecture they're running on, DO run faster and more stable. Now you may say, what if some huge package like OpenOffice takes whole day to install on some computers, what if I'm not that much of a performance maniac and want my installations to be quick. Portage has precompiled binary packages for many programs already(usually big programs that would require lots of time for building locally), and gives you the choice of whether to build it locally, or download the already built packages. Can't get any better.
Gentoo is all about choice, performance, and freedom. If you're unsure of whether Gentoo is or isn't for you, don't be afraid to try it. You might love it ;)
Don't be fooled by the sweet & loving words said for Gentoo by this man! He has a terrible secret which came a bit as a shock for all of us. I should know that secret cuz I m his roommate...
ReplyDeleteHE USES WINDOWS when no one's around !!!
just kidding :P
ReplyDeletelmao, thanks for the giggle 'nick' ;)
ReplyDelete