Hi all,

I have pretty much always been a Suse linux user. I initially first
installed it simply to see what it was like but have since become a
huge fan. I don't do any linux programming or anything particuarly
technical with it other than listen to music, email, internet,
documents, spreadsheets, MSN/AOL messenger etc. All the common stuff.
Possibly the most 'advanced' thing i use is VMWare in order to run
Windows 2000 for my .NET programming. I stayed with Suse because it
was always the only distro to pick up and install and configure all my
hardware without messing around. Also, because YaST is a superb tool
to install new apps and configure the machine. The problem with Suse I
find is that it is a little slow and so bloated, and since Opensuse 10
came out, my wireless card (a Netgear WG311T with an Atheros chipset)
is no longer detected. And no matter what I try with ndiswrapper or
madwifi it will not work. So, I am still with Suse 9.3.

I have always read about Gentoo being so quick and only having the most
useful packages (the fact that it comes on 1 CD as opposed to a DVD is
also a hint). So, I am considering switching to Gentoo. However, I
have a few doubts that I am hoping people here can answer.

1.) Is it really faster or is that just a myth? My machine is an
AMD64 3400 with 1GB of ram.
2.) Is there a similar tool to YaST for installing new packages and
configuring the machine? I understand the benefit of compiling from
source but, where possible, I would prefer to avoid that and the
headaches that come with it!
3.) I assume there are not the MP3 restrictions like with Suse now?
4.) How good is it at detecting hardware and has anyone managed to get
a WG311T card, or something with the same chipset, working?
5.) Does it come with loads of delicious eye candy and customisations
for KDE which look so cool!!!????!!
6.) Is it worth the change?


Thanks,
Hugh