Is Gentoo Linux 2008.0 Ever Going to See the Light of Day?

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

If there is one thing Gentoo Linux can't seem to catch, it's a break. Since the 2007.0 release, the distro's future has been plastered with uncertainty, all for varying reasons. Gentoo's developers mean well, but it seems something always happens that prevents smooth upgrades. As a result, the 2007.1 release was entirely cancelled... something that did not help the distros image.

The next release is 2008.0... one that should have been in public beta in early March and officially released as of this point, but once again, we are a month behind. The problem isn't so much that the crew are behind schedule, but the fact that the public are left oblivious... not even a simple news post was made to fill people in. To me, that's a big no no, and only clouds the distros image even further.

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As it turns out, though, there are good reasons for this latest delay. One of the main reasons was due to a death of a close relative of two key developers - completely understandable. The other reasons are due to "usual delays that affect most open-source projects" and also due to upgrades in their release processes. So, Gentoo is still alive and well, and that's all that matters. Like Duke Nukem Forever, 2008.0 will get here when it gets here.

Source: Gentoo.org
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[Merlin]

I'm still thinking of a linux OS on a dual boot on the other machine ( Q9450 )
Are you using Gentoo mostly?

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:

 

[Rob Williams]

I use Gentoo exclusively, but as I mentioned before, I don't recommend it for someone not familiar with Linux unless you REALLY want to devote some time to learning how Linux works.

It's definitely one of the best ways to learn the ins and outs though, that's for sure.

I also spoke too soon... shortly after I made that news post, the Gentoo team released beta 1, haha.

http://www.gentoo.org/news/20080401-release-beta1.xml

Downloaded it, but am not sure if I'll have time to test it before Beta 2 comes out.

 

[Merlin]

I see......
What would be a good linux OS to start with?

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:

 

[BlackAndy]

I see......
What would be a good linux OS to start with?

I too would be interested in doing a Dual boot just for fun... What's a good version of Linux for a newb Bobert?
-Andy

 

[Kougar]

Linux Mint seemed like a decent distro to start with. Or at least it is the only linux distro I heard of that plays mp3s, music, and movies "out of the box".

Even Ubuntu requires you to know some linux to get that all up and running.

 

[Rob Williams]

openSUSE is a good one to test out with. It's kind of bloated in some regards, but seems to cater a lot to the newbie and advanced Linux user alike.

I've never touched Linux Mint, but those are definite pluses. SabayonLinux is another option for those that don't mind a really robust (as in bloated) Linux... it covers all the bases and is full-featured.

http://en.opensuse.org/
http://www.sabayonlinux.org/

If Gentoo were to die, Fedora would be the first Linux I'd use, since it's very professional and secure.

http://fedoraproject.org/

 

[Merlin]

I'm wondering why Google has such an interest in Gentoo
There's a lot of support from Google

:techgage::techgage: Merlin :techgage::techgage:

 

[Kougar]

Fedora? Is that a direct decendant of Red Hat 9?

I may just have a talent for finding software glitches, bugs, and general problems... but it didn't take me very long to completely crash Red Hat 9 from the log-in screen when attempting to log into the main or secondary accounts. Only the root account would work. I don't actually remember any details though, this was back during Win98se which I was dual booting with at the time.

I really know very little about Linux, I should add... by the time I'd somehow broken all the user accounts I'd already botched a few things inside the install anyway, so it wasn't much of a loss...

 

[Rob Williams]

Fedora is indeed a descendant of Red Hat, but is more community-oriented... and free. Red Hat 9 is old, so I wouldn't base opinions off of it, to be honest. That was the last version as "Red Hat Linux"... it's now known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and is now at version 5. Fedora is a split of this, and is completely open-source.

Linux as a whole improves all the time, and has especially in the past few years with the massive surge of open-source developers and supporters. A lot has happened since RH9, that's for sure.

I used to feel the same way about SuSE... I had so many issues with that, it's not even funny. Apparently the latest versions of openSUSE are far, far better than they used to be, though. That's something I should take a look at soon.

Although Fedora isn't directed specifically at a certain type of user, I consider it to be one of the more stable distros available. It's rather simple to install, secure and easy to look at. I am not a fan of the GNOME desktop that it includes, but I believe there is now a version for KDE users.

Fedora, in my opinion, is for those who don't care to tinker around with their machine all that much (as in, hacking), but would rather run a machine that's stable as hell. The yum repository only allows stable applications and updates to be installed (though most distros are like this also, including Gentoo), so it assures that your machine is as stable as possible. That's how I see it, at least.

I choose Gentoo because you start off with almost nothing. After a basic installation, you are left with a kernel and the base required Linux applications... no desktop environment. From there, you build on top of it... install KDE, other applications, and then get on your way. I love it because it's a distro YOU build. YOU know what's running on the system, and you know that your computer doesn't have some of the bloat that comes with other distros.

But that said, that benefit is also a downfall for most new Linux users. Many people don't find it that fun to read through a massive how-to page just to get an OS installed, and then, not many new Linux users understand how things work, or what applications they should need. For years prior to Gentoo, I used both SuSE and Red Hat, so it gave me the experience necessary to know what I would need once Gentoo was installed.

Since first installing Gentoo in December 2005, though, I haven't looked back. It IS a chore at times, but it's a well-oiled machine once you have everything configured and operating properly. I love it.

 

[Kougar]

Oh I wasn't trying to be negative about linux, I just found my first real foray with it to be highly amusing.

I'd definitely fall within the new user category that doesn't understand how things work... it was eaiser for me to use a linux bootloader and set up and install Red Hat 9 alongside Win98se, then it was for me to actually use linux.

After a point trying to make all the little common things I get to take for granted in Windows actually work in software on linux drove me crazy, and I am talking about the native linux versions of software none of the emulators like Wine or Wine-Doors. Its really just not my cup of tea.

There are certainly things I don't like about Windows, but its very easy to run a 100% stable install. I don't get blue screens or odd behavior unless I cause them from fiddling somewhere I shouldn't have. So as long as its stable, its quick and simple to use, and it has better compatibility I'll be jsut sticking to Windows.