bjplayer2004: Looking to buy a laptop

[Parker]

> If you like Linux take a look at
> www.Gentoo.org

> Penguin Love,

I have looked at it. I've even *attempted* an installation a few times. I have never made it all the way through and actually gotten it to work.

It is a reach to even call it a distribution. It is more like a repository of source code and directions for building your own distribution. Because virtually everything is compiled from source, an installation takes several hours.

I concede that the concept of having a system completely custom-compiled for my specific hardware and applications is appealing. It would be a "lean, mean" system that would undoubtedly boot up very quickly. But since I re-boot about once a month or less, that isn't really important.

Gentoo is the first distro I have encountered that made me long for the intuitiveness of a Debian installation. :-)

[Viktor Nacht]

> Gentoo is the first distro I have
> encountered that made me long for the
> intuitiveness of a Debian installation. :-)

Wuss. Just kidding. Yes, installation can be painful. It is a little bit easier if you use the pre-compiled ISOs which are available for x86, AMD, PPC, and so on. The main advantage is that once it is up and running, the update system can keep your system up-to-date in perpetuity instead of being sunsetted. like some distros such as Redhat, my new arch nemesis.

And to be honest, I'm not running Gentoo on a production server. This is where the decision gets very complicated, when you have a 24/7 system. It's also where companies like Redhat can get you by the balls.

Good Cards,

V

[bigplayer]

The only time my computer slows down (Dell Inspirion 8200 with 512MB Ram and 1.8Mhz P4) is while I'm actually running a sim which does take a lot of muscle.

[Saboteur]

I used to have a job travelling on the road 365 days a year. My luggage was carried in a small trailer pulled behind a pick-up truck. Our work crew would stay in approximately 120 different hotels/motels a year, and we'd average about 60,000 miles on the highway each year.

I had to have a laptop to keep the books for our operation, but a "soft" case wasn't sturdy enough to take the abuse of all those miles and the constant loading and unloading. I went to a Ritz camera shop in a local mall and purchased a "hard" (thick ABS plastic) camera case, the kind that professional photographers use for their cameras and expensive lenses. As I recall, the case cost me around $150. You can see it at the link below (scroll down to "821 Models"). The interior is snugly filled with a large block of foam padding which is pre-scored into strips approximately 1/2*1/2*8 inches in size. You carefully pull apart the padding to create "hollows" for the various components of your system (the laptop itself, as well as things like the adapter, additional batteries, a mouse, a scanner, etc). Even the lid of the case is padded. I doubt that my computer ever shifted so much as 1/16th of an inch while being transported around the country in that bumpy luggage trailer. Both the computer and the case itself still look as great as they did the day I bought them, although I admit the case isn't as snazzy-looking as some leather laptop cases I've seen. However, my case seals tightly to keep out dust and water. The seal is so tight that a pressure-relief valve is required to be twisted to the "open" position if you're carrying it on a plane. (Scroll down to "Rugged and Dry" at the bottom of the web-page).

My case is made by a company called Underwater Kinetics. It's possible that the case's size would make it impractical for storage in an overhead compartment of an airliner.

The web-site is:

http://www.fuertecases.com/uwk.html

[Cacarulo]

> SUSE...Radhat? What are you guys, pansies?
> If you want the ultimate in portable penguin
> power, then Gentoo linux is the way to go!

> In all seriousness, the Gentoo Portage
> system's ability to automatically compile
> and optimize packages to your specific
> system is very impressive. The problem for
> the average use is that the installation
> process is still incredibly archaic when you
> compare it to Redhat's mature installer and
> other distros. Kind of a shame, since one
> its installed Gentoo is amazingly flexible
> and efficient.

> If you like Linux take a look at
> www.Gentoo.org

> Penguin Love,

Will take a look to that site. Thanks.

Cac

[21 Noobie]

Try Libranet Debian!!! No rpm hell - with SuSe manageability and hardware recognition . Version 2.7 is free to download

www.libranet.com

21 Noobie

> Will take a look to that site. Thanks.

> Cac