Alternative OS Of the Month: December 2006

This "program" spawned out of deRusett's torrent seeding proposal: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=488405

The goals of the OS Of the Month are two-fold:

1. To have members actively seed torrent files to help others download iso images for linux distributions and BSD versions
2. To expose members to all of the options out there and allow them to test these options with the aid of other members

I have decided to highlight the x86 versions of these "distributions" (quotes because BSD's and others aren't technically distributions) because the vast majority of members run x86 architecture. While 64bit processors are becoming the norm and 64bit environments are becoming more mature, the 32bit environment is still recommended for desktop use. Most distros only require one cd to be downloaded to create a minimal install or to start a net install. For this reason, and so everyone who chooses to help seed the torrents only have to seed one file, I am only going to highlight the main install cd for each distro that is chosen.

So without further ado, here is the inaugural pick for OS of the Month:

Gentoo Linux
Homepage: http://www.gentoo.org
Documentation: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/index.xml
x86 Handbook and Install Guide: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/2006.1/handbook-x86.xml
Wiki: http://gentoo-wiki.com
Hardware Requirements: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=2#doc_chap1
Torrent: http://torrents.gentoo.org/torrents/livecd-i686-installer-2006.1.torrent

if you don't want to donate a hard drive partition, there is always Qemu:
Qemu downloads: http://www.qemu.org/download.html
Gentoo disk image: http://www.oszoo.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Gentoo_images


You do not have to install the OS to participate, you can simply seed the torrent file to help others download iso image. Remember, if you do choose to test out the OS of the Month, there are others who will be there right by your side to help you out.

Feel free to post questions and comments right in this thread.

seeding. this is the smallest distro i have ever seen...

it's pretty much just a 54mb live cd to let you set up a net install. Once you boot off the cd, you can then partition and format your drive, then download a Stage tar file, usually stage 3, then download a portage snapshot, then build a kernel, and you can then reboot off the HD.

It's not the most newbie friendly install method, but I think Gentoo has the best documentation of any distro I have seen, and it will serve as a great base for comparison as we move along the OS of the Month line and see other Distros.

Will download and seed once I get home

dling/seeding.

yeah i'm seeding now...seems my max upload is 20Kbps

for those who can't use bittorrent (like me) or maybe want to choose another arch, here: http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/where.xml

There are plenty of ftp and http mirrors for gentoo, so i think the torrenting part will be more useful for some less popular distros.

I have to agree with matva

i get about 600/kbps download from my local madison, wisconsin mirrors which pretty much maxes out my bandwidth.

matva said:

for those who can't use bittorrent (like me) or maybe want to choose another arch, here: http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/where.xml

There are plenty of ftp and http mirrors for gentoo, so i think the torrenting part will be more useful for some less popular distros.

Click to expand...

very true. Since this "program" is still in it's infancy, are there any other suggestions you all have? I chose the minimal cd and the i386 arch just assuming they would be the most popular option and it would mean everyone only needs to seed one disk image instead of a full set of cds. I can see why bittorrent might not be the best option to download the 54mb cd of a very popular distro like Gentoo. Do you think it might make more sense to pick the standard install CD, or DVD if it is available? That would obviously mean more downloading up front, but less during install.

I updated the torrent link to point to the livecd install disc instead of the minimal install cd. This is actually good for the n00bs, because I believe the livecd has a graphical install. I've never used it before, I always use the minimal install cd, so it will be good to see people's thoughts on the livecd.

Ive been trying to install gentoo for the past few days. I get to installing grub and get an error.

end request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0

Its trying to install to my floppy drive or something...not really sure, This is about the 4th time ive started over now.

PLOBBY said:

Ive been trying to install gentoo for the past few days. I get to installing grub and get an error.

end request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0

Its trying to install to my floppy drive or something...not really sure, This is about the 4th time ive started over now.

Click to expand...

are you trying to install to floppy, or you think grub is doing it on its own? are you following this: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=10#grub ?

splat said:

are you trying to install to floppy, or you think grub is doing it on its own? are you following this: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=10#grub ?

Click to expand...

Im trying to install it to my sata hard drives (2 x 250gb raid 0)... So grub is doing it on its own. And yes i am following that guide.

do you have a floppy drive in the computer? because grub can hang while trying to probe it if you don't. i think the correct way to keep it from probing the floppy is


o, and if you have a raid, you need to do special things.

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Gentoo_Install_on_Software_RAID

there is a grub section in there

these distros don't have to just be Linux or BSD do they?

What else do you suggest? Syllable might be interesting.

Yeah, Syllable, ReactOS, Haiku maybe. We use it as an excuse to explore a few of the more independent OS projects, the ones which I often think "that looks interesting, but I can't really be bothered to install."

any alternative os is welcome. I was thinking of just going down the list at distrowatch.com, but if you have one that you really want to try out, by all means suggest it. maybe we'll start picking the os's by a poll if there is enough interest to make it worth while

ahh im beating myself in the head with this.. I have no idea what im doing wrong. Is anyone kind enough to do the install via ssh...This is the 4th time now starting from scratch then getting to the grub install and it not working properly.

i've never installed to a RAID so I'm not 100% sure what is going on, but I'd be willing to give it a try over ssh sometime tonight if you'd like