venturing in to the world of linux

[chittnp]

well, I've decided to stop putting it off and finally build a linux box. That being said, I think Im going to go with an AMD 64 platform. I've started downloading the gentoo amd64 set up, and I can say that Im more than a little nervous, but I guess theres no better way to learn than by doing right?

Im sorry to say that you can all look forward to alot of stupid questions form me in the near future

 

[Kendan]

The only stupid questions are the ones that do not get asked

 

[rogerdugans]

Picking Gentoo as your first venture into Linux is a brave move, my friend.

An excellent way to really learn what linux is about in many ways, but a brave and difficult choice.

Three pieces of advice:
Read
Stage 3 install
Read

The reading is to get you the knowledge to understand what is going on.....very important at times, especially wth a Gentoo install.

Stage 3 install because it is nearly as well optimized and much faster to install than doing everything (Stage 1 install).
Stick with it.

The Gentoo forums are a great resource as well.

 

[LiGhTBoY]

Gentoo is difficult to get installed, but you will notice the difference later on (it's a lot faster than debian for me)




/offtopic

The only stupid questions are the ones that do not get asked

Do you mind if I put that in my sig?
/offtopic

 

[Kendan]

Gentoo is difficult to get installed, but you will notice the difference later on (it's a lot faster than debian for me)




/offtopic

Do you mind if I put that in my sig?
/offtopic

Go right ahead just know that I heard it on the forums many times

 

[{PMS}fishy]

Picking Gentoo as your first venture into Linux is a brave move, my friend.

An excellent way to really learn what linux is about in many ways, but a brave and difficult choice.

Three pieces of advice:
Read
Stage 3 install
Read

The reading is to get you the knowledge to understand what is going on.....very important at times, especially wth a Gentoo install.

Stage 3 install because it is nearly as well optimized and much faster to install than doing everything (Stage 1 install).
Stick with it.

The Gentoo forums are a great resource as well.

Stage 1 ! Might as well on the A64, its going to be pretty quick to compile all the needed parts with an A64. Im not even sure if there is a stage 3 option for the 64bit stuff yet.

As rogerdugans said read, read it again, and again. My first time I missed so many things becuase I was rushing. Go slow and you will save more time. The gentoo forums are a great place for help, as well as #gentoo on IRC.

Good luck, and I hope it goes smoothly for you.

 

[Kendan]

If you are going to give the gentoo IRC room you might as well give the server too

irc.freenode.net
#gentoo

 

[{PMS}fishy]

Sorry. I forgot that small piece of info. Thanks Kendan.

 

[rogerdugans]

Fishy may be right about the a64 code...I am still struggling with ancient Athlon XP Pallys for the most part....
How do I get by?

Just as a note: lack of doing things RIGHT the first time, because I can be an arrogant and impatient SOB, meant that it took me about 2 weeks to actually have a working Gentoo install....

Don't be like me!

 

[chittnp]

Ok...first stupid question, what the heck is compiling?

 

[chittnp]

OK, ready for another stupid question?

will 32 bit linux apps work with the 64 bit gentoo, or doesnt it matter in linux?
it would be really stupid if I went through all the trouble and couldnt use any of the apps that make me want to try out linux to begin with. that being said, perhaps now is a good time to lay out my whole idea.

Im really getting into to wardriving and mapping AP's, and learning more about wireless technology in general. The problem is that all the really great freeware is *nix based, so I figure since I've been toying with the idea of building a linux box anyway to learn about linux, why not combine the two? My plan to build an SFF linux box on the AMD socket 754 platform. Ill be upgrading my laptops HDD soon to a 7200 rpm model so I was planning on using the old one for my Linux machine. Im also planning on using a laptop CD-R drive. I'm also toying with the idea of using one of the DTR socket 754 chips because of the low power consumption and lower heat output. Ideally, Id like to be able to mount this in my car someday (maybe) and the laptop components will make it easier to power. Im planning on using a PCI Wireless G card, probably a linksys, or a PCI to PCMCIA card and use my Orinoco card.

Im really not sure if Ill be able to make either work under linux, so any tips you have there would be a great help too

if anyone see's a problem with my proposed set-up, speak up! If I'd be better off going with a VIA Epia board and 32 bit linux, id like to know now

thanks!

 

[rogerdugans]

Compiling is the act of taking raw source code (which can't actually DO anything) and assembling it into an actual piece of software.

This is often done in linux for applications, but most distros give you one or more pre-compiled kernels to choose from...
Gentoo is different: you will compile a kernel when installing Gentoo. There are no pre-compiled kernels (that I am aware of!) other than the ones on the various LiveCDs.

You can compile a kernel in any distro, but in most it is an optional thing- you can accept the choices made by the distributor too.

 

[Christoph]

Sorry if this seems irrelevant, but I have to interject.
Freeware isn't the same as open source. The big problem is that English doesn't have separate words for the concepts of free (uninhibited, like free speech vs. costless, like free beer). Freeware is distributed costlessly in binary (executable) form, but may still have an inhibiting license and never carries a guarantee of source code availability. OSS is often distributed in binary form, but it's licensed so that any user is guaranteed access to the source code and modify it as he sees fit.
For most (ie non-hacker) people, it doesn't matter whether the source and binaries or just the binaries are free, but for the people who write the software and have the ability to modify it it means all the difference in the world. This is part of the reason that many in the OSS community dislike nVidia's binary-only drivers. (A practical example of where this causes a problem is with the recent move to 4K kernel stacks. This breaks binary-only kernel modules, but would be easy for kernel hackers to fix were the source code available.)

As for 32-bit compatibility, I've heard (but don't have the money to confirm) that you'll be fine with old 32-bit apps. There's a good discussion about it at the bottom of this page.

Wireless will probably work, but make sure to confirm that the card you're getting works in Linux before you buy it. There are some cards that are pretty shaky, and it wouldn't be fun to end up with one of them.