Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo. I have
read the handbook but unfortunately I am a total newbie to linux for the
most part. Does anybody know of a step by step tutorial out there that
would be easier for a newbie to install. Also since i am a newbie is
Gentoo even a good distribution for me to try? Any help would be
appreciated.....thanks

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 18:45:51 -0400, Jeffy wrote:

> Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo. I have
> read the handbook but unfortunately I am a total newbie to linux for the
> most part. Does anybody know of a step by step tutorial out there that
> would be easier for a newbie to install. Also since i am a newbie is
> Gentoo even a good distribution for me to try? Any help would be
> appreciated.....thanks

What is your background? For ex. if you a a home desktop user with no IS
experience, I would suggest trying Mandrake, Suse, or Fedora/Redhat 1st
and then migrate to Gentoo at a later date... Some may disagree but I
think it's the best way to go.

Jeffy wrote:
> Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo. I have
> read the handbook but unfortunately I am a total newbie to linux for the
> most part. Does anybody know of a step by step tutorial out there that
> would be easier for a newbie to install. Also since i am a newbie is
> Gentoo even a good distribution for me to try? Any help would be
> appreciated.....thanks

I don't think there is better documentation out there than the Gentoo
Handbook (if there is, please let me know).

As for whether it's a good distro for you to try depends on what you
want to do.

If you just want to experience working on a Linux desktop then perhaps
Gentoo isn't the best solution for you. In this case, I'd recommend you
go with a distro with a more automated setup, such as Knoppix, Mandrake
or Red Hat.

If you want to learn the ins and out of Linux (as an OS and set of
tools) quickly, then IMO Gentoo is the best choice. It's a very steep
learning curve but this just means that you learn *much* faster, if you
can keep up with the pace. For an absolute newbie it can be overwhelming
at times, and many drown. However IMO the payoff with Gentoo is that by
being thrown in at the deep end you learn to swim better.

The first time I installed Gentoo I saw it as kind of an intensive
course in Linux. Most of what I know about Linux now is through
installing Gentoo and other various applications, and this inevitably
meant I did a lot of reading of tutorials and man pages . Through all
that I discovered that probably the most important resource of all was
this fine newsgroup. Use it wisely.

HTH,
--
Ben M.

Jeffy scratched on a wall the following:

> Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo.
[...]

Ben made very good remarks - I'll not repeat them. Took me two attempts to
install Gentoo ... still don't know what I missed first time and it doesn't
matter now. Few things I found handy: _take_ your time, have a print out of
the Handbook and Gentoo System Documentation or use another computer to
read off. Read a little ahead and read the steps you're about to accomplish
a couple times _before_ trying.
--
oNb
Another happy Linux user - # 276084.
Reject religion ! Embrace Jesus Christ.
Linux help source | www.linuxquestions.org

So anyway, it was like, 05:44 CEST Jul 04 2004, you know? Oh, and, yeah,
oldNbald was all like, "Dude,

>[..] _take_ your time, have a print out of the Handbook and Gentoo
>System Documentation or use another computer to read off. Read a
>little ahead and read the steps you're about to accomplish a couple
>times _before_ trying.

Also, try to understand the reason behind each step you are about to
take, don't just skim the docs and type the commands as-is. Figure out
what each one does, consider if it's exactly what you want (during the
install, it probably is ) and don't do /anything/ that you're not
aware of the consequences of.

This way, you'll have a much better chance of understanding both the
errors that may pop up during the installation, and how the system
works once you're done.

</soapbox>

--
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. Perth ---> *
13:12:50 up 14 days, 20:24, 8 users, load average: 1.00, 1.02, 1.01
Linux 2.6.7 x86_64 GNU/Linux Registered Linux user #261729

I'm not new obviously

I am baffled at why when it seems that my answer is in the upgrade
to 1.4 doc that my gentoo-release file says 1.4.16

I was initially confused by gcc not upgrading but on reading this doc
I see there will be a long compile to progress it. I hope it produces
dependable results.

-Walt

Ben Measures <saint_abroadremove@removehotmail.com> wrote:
> Jeffy wrote:
>> Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo. I have
>> read the handbook but unfortunately I am a total newbie to linux for the
>> most part. Does anybody know of a step by step tutorial out there that
>> would be easier for a newbie to install. Also since i am a newbie is
>> Gentoo even a good distribution for me to try? Any help would be
>> appreciated.....thanks

> I don't think there is better documentation out there than the Gentoo
> Handbook (if there is, please let me know).

> As for whether it's a good distro for you to try depends on what you
> want to do.

> If you just want to experience working on a Linux desktop then perhaps
> Gentoo isn't the best solution for you. In this case, I'd recommend you
> go with a distro with a more automated setup, such as Knoppix, Mandrake
> or Red Hat.

> If you want to learn the ins and out of Linux (as an OS and set of
> tools) quickly, then IMO Gentoo is the best choice. It's a very steep
> learning curve but this just means that you learn *much* faster, if you
> can keep up with the pace. For an absolute newbie it can be overwhelming
> at times, and many drown. However IMO the payoff with Gentoo is that by
> being thrown in at the deep end you learn to swim better.

> The first time I installed Gentoo I saw it as kind of an intensive
> course in Linux. Most of what I know about Linux now is through
> installing Gentoo and other various applications, and this inevitably
> meant I did a lot of reading of tutorials and man pages . Through all
> that I discovered that probably the most important resource of all was
> this fine newsgroup. Use it wisely.

> HTH,
> --
> Ben M.

--
Reply to innkeepATncDOTrrDOTcom to email questions.

Jeffy wrote:
> Hello all, I've been trying for a week now to install Gentoo. I have
> read the handbook but unfortunately I am a total newbie to linux for the
> most part. Does anybody know of a step by step tutorial out there that
> would be easier for a newbie to install. Also since i am a newbie is
> Gentoo even a good distribution for me to try? Any help would be
> appreciated.....thanks

Jeffy,

What are you trying to install onto? Desktop? Server? Notebook? PDA?

The way I would attempt to install Linux is:
1. Use Knoppix to see if your system will work with Linux to start with.
Knoppix's great automagical detection will usually catch most pieces of
hardware. Grab the "dmesg" output and put it to one side.
2. Read the Gentoo install handbook based on your architecture.
3. Read it again (seriously), but this time with a highlighter so you
can mark things you're unsure of. Hit Google or the Gentoo forums. One
of the best things I have found with Gentoo is the user community. Much
better than most other OS's communities... very prompt, more than helpful...
4. Put the CD in and follow the steps in the handbook, along with the
information you've harvested from the web. Don't think you'll be done in
half an hour (especially with Stage1 install) unless you've got a 4-way
AMD box. 3 to 4 days is not unheard of. You don't have to do it all in
one sitting. Just kick off a stage or a script, go to sleep, take a nap,
walk the dog, etc... and then come back.

I've documented my steps of how I got Gentoo on my notebook, taking
about 12 hours. If you're interested, e-mail me, and I'll forward you
(or anyone else) the URL.

I don't find Gentoo the hardest OS to install. I thought the
step-by-step instructions were very clear. Following the instructions I
found it quite easy. Seriously...

Good luck...

....Ric

--
If you want to email Ric, use: ric_on_the_go--NO_SPAM@yahoo.com.au
Just remove the "--NO_SPAM"
-- Do you, uh... Gentoo? Gentoooo-hooo!! --

ric_man wrote:

> The way I would attempt to install Linux is:
>
> 1. Use Knoppix to see if your system will work with Linux to start
> with. Knoppix's great automagical detection will usually catch most
> pieces of hardware. Grab the "dmesg" output and put it to one side.

Knoppix is good at doing that. In fact, I prefer to install Gentoo from
within Knoppix. Perhaps the Gentoo LiveCD has become better over the
years, but I find Knoppix to do a perfect job ... as long as you don't
accidentally exit the session ...

> 2. Read the Gentoo install handbook based on your architecture.

And this point can't be stressed enough! As a Gentoo noob, you have a
*very* slim chance of installing it without reading and understanding
the install docs!

> 3. Read it again (seriously), but this time with a highlighter so you
> can mark things you're unsure of. Hit Google or the Gentoo forums. One
> of the best things I have found with Gentoo is the user community.
> Much better than most other OS's communities... very prompt, more than
> helpful...

You forgot to mention IRC. Join #gentoo on irc.freenode.net. It's
filled with developers and users, just waiting for a problem to solve or
a question to answer ;-)

> 4. Put the CD in and follow the steps in the handbook, along with the
> information you've harvested from the web. Don't think you'll be done
> in half an hour (especially with Stage1 install) unless you've got a
> 4-way AMD box. 3 to 4 days is not unheard of. You don't have to do it
> all in one sitting. Just kick off a stage or a script, go to sleep,
> take a nap, walk the dog, etc... and then come back.

It's been a while since I read the docs, do they still give movie and
game suggestions?

> I've documented my steps of how I got Gentoo on my notebook, taking
> about 12 hours. If you're interested, e-mail me, and I'll forward you
> (or anyone else) the URL.
>
> I don't find Gentoo the hardest OS to install. I thought the
> step-by-step instructions were very clear. Following the instructions
> I found it quite easy. Seriously...

I actually found it easier than Debian, but that was because the machine
I wanted to install it on had a very unusual booting procedure, and the
manual approach of Gentoo made it easier to do it right.

--
PeKaJe

But they went to MARS around 1953!!

Peter Jensen wrote:
> You forgot to mention IRC. Join #gentoo on irc.freenode.net. It's
> filled with developers and users, just waiting for a problem to solve or
> a question to answer ;-)

I don't know enough IRC commands, and my typing skills are absolute
crap. I don't use IRC much although I know the benefits are much greater
as you can get quicker responses (in real time).

Everytime I've logged onto IRC, I'll ask a question, and the answer will
fly up, and I'll not read it as I'm typing something else. And then
what's worse is sometimes I'll get distracted and miss the response to
me questions entirely.

So granted, IRC is great, but I guess I'm not used to it yet.

....Ric

--
If you want to email Ric, use: ric_on_the_go--NO_SPAM@yahoo.com.au
Just remove the "--NO_SPAM"
-- Do you, uh... Gentoo? Gentoooo-hooo!! --

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 23:08:38 +0000, nick wrote:

> On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 18:45:51 -0400, Jeffy wrote:
>
> What is your background? For ex. if you a a home desktop user with no IS
> experience, I would suggest trying Mandrake, Suse, or Fedora/Redhat 1st
> and then migrate to Gentoo at a later date... Some may disagree but I
> think it's the best way to go.

I also agree. I typically suggest Fedora to new users until they decide
whether they want to persue the whole "Linux thing" further. I believe
that although a user doesn't get the full Linux experience by using Fedora
(IMHO), it is a sure way to get it installed and working so that you can
see what the OS is like. If you then decide that you want a customizable,
easily maintainable version of Linux, give Gentoo a shot.

You may however, find that Fedora suits you just fine as thousands of
others before you already have. A typical Gentoo user started with such a
distrobution as Fedora, but then outgrew it.

All of the suggestions you have read so far in these replies have been
good ones. It is important that you read the handbook documentation
carefully, I don't think a better set of documentation exists.

Good luck with whatever route you choose!
~djc