Are the any valid reasons to use gentoo over a binary distro like Ubuntu?
>muh Linux learning
That's not a reason
No, just use arch Linux. You'll learn Linux better.
>>52461358
muh minimalism
Just use what flows best with you, man.
Some like pacman. Some like apt. No one likes yum, etc.
>>52461437
some like YaST
>>52461358
I can have multiple conflicting versions of packages, or 64 and 32 bit libraries at once. And it's all fine because the programs that depend on specific architectures or specific versions of programs are compiled from source, so portage just links them with the version it knows it depends on.
See https://devmanual.gentoo.org/general-concepts/slotting/ and https://www.gentoo.org/support/news-items/2015-03-28-true-multilib.html
If you've ever had to deal with dependency issues with packages you'll know why this is awesome.
Also being able to manually include (or exclude) certain features from any package or your kernel is extremely useful. For example, I was able to simply remove the SSL heartbeat extension and recompile my packages when the heartbleed vuln came out.
>>52461358
Portage has WAY more packages than any other package manager that I know of. Probably because it is so easy for a developer to make a package for it (it is just the source code!)
>>52461358
portage is much better for a large range of reasons
Based on your post, you probably don't care though
>>52462031
Can you list some of those reasons?
>>52461358
easier to maintain packages (try patching a package in Ubuntu)
layman
USE flags
optimization
multiple versions of the same package
arch specific / multilib packages are easy
actually building from source, so you know nobody added extra "magic" in your programs (unless, for some odd reason, the EBUILD grabs the sources from a third party site, which, in my experience, never happens)
easily verify the integrity of your portage tree (so no MITM)
basically, it's very very flexible, yet, easy to maintain.
>>52461358
Good repo. Best package manager. Best practices. Ease of modding. Performance. Customisability due to USE flags.
It just werks.
Portage and being able to make a binary distro tailored to your exact needs out of an already existing gentoo install.
>>52461875
Package managers don't have packages, repos do.
>>52462427
>Portage and being able to make a binary distro tailored to your exact needs out of an already existing gentoo install.
Yup. You can turn gentoo into a binary distro by adding FEATURES="getbinpkg" to your make.conf.
>>52462470
Not just that, but if you were to install gentoo on to a second machine you could actually use the first install as a binary repo of your own.
>>52462490
>but if you were to install gentoo on to a second machine you could actually use the first install as a binary repo of your own
I didn't know that. Fascinating.
>>52461437
I love yum.
>>52461437
* > apt
>>52462490
>Not just that, but if you were to install gentoo on to a second machine you could actually use the first install as a binary repo of your own.
Does that mean I could just get someone to burn a precompiled instance of Gentoo and put THAT into my computer?
>>52462656
And who are you again?
>>52461564
YaST is nice, but a horrible package management frontend.
Just zypper for me please. Fastest and most friendly PM I've used except maybe pkgng.
>>52462747
>Does that mean I could just get someone to burn a precompiled instance of Gentoo and put THAT into my computer?
Yes, it's called Calculate Linux.
>>52462754
Someone who understands the concept of anonymity better than you.
>>52462801
>Yes, it's called Calculate Linux.
And can I customize Calculate Linux just as much as Gentoo, only knowing that someone else pre-installed some defaults, instead of leaving me to compile everything? Or do I actually lose any kind of freedom this way?
>>52462867
>And can I customize Calculate Linux just as much as Gentoo, only knowing that someone else pre-installed some defaults, instead of leaving me to compile everything?
Yes. It's literally gentoo. Although I recommend altering the defaults. It uses binary packages for instance, so change your make.conf. Other than that, it's a fine distro.
Gentoo with calculate utils (scripts to partition and update your system).
>>52462905
>Yes. It's literally gentoo. Although I recommend altering the defaults. It uses binary packages for instance, so change your make.conf. Other than that, it's a fine distro.
Is there anyway for a newfaggot who's only tried Ubuntu, Mint and Debian to fuck up the basic installation process?
>>52462940
>Is there anyway for a newfaggot who's only tried Ubuntu, Mint and Debian to fuck up the basic installation process?
Absolutely not. Just get familiar with the /etc/portage/ folder. I recommend setting a bunch of global USE flags from the list https://www.gentoo.org/support/use-flags/
Then run cl-update after you've changed them and your make.conf. It will fail multiple times, and when that happens, run (super use) python-updater, perl-cleaner, or haskell-updater. Make sure to read the log. Then cl-update again (it's a script).
>>52462940
Also learn about gentoo tools, like eselect and equery. Very handy.
>>52462983
>It will fail multiple times,
Why does this happen?
>>52463046
>Why does this happen?
Because you will update, say, perl-lang, and then the next time you'll need perl's xml parser, you won't have the proper version linked against the program.
>>52462131
you say this like its something unique to gentoo.
thats no different to sbopkg
>>52463212
>unique to gentoo
he asked why use a source based distro over a binary one you fucking piece of shit mongoloid fanboy.
>>52463625
hurr durr sbopkg is source based you fucking retarded cunt!
Whos the mongoloid fanboy now?
>>52463658
>sbopkg is source based
can you not fucking read?
jesus christ, how autistic /g/ is?
he asked why use a source based distro over a binary one, I answered him with slightly gentoo-leaned answers (because I've been using gentoo for a decade)
HOWEVER, I never said those advantages are exclusive to Gentoo, they are exclusive to any source based package manager/distro, yes, sbopkg included you fucking autist fanboy.
just off yourself.
>>52463625
sbopkg belongs to slackware so yeah its source based.
>>52463727
yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
>>52462867
Wheres my ebin(a) ?
