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Thread: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

  1. #1
    Would You kindly... luciusad2004's Avatar
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    Default Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    Ok, I know i have asked tons of linux questions by now but i wanted to get the opinions of some of the peolple here who i think are very helpful.

    I will start of with the problem. I have an old Ibook.

    • 600 MHz PowerPC G3 processor
    • 384 MB SDRAM


    Yes, its is slow. I know that the best upgrade i could give this thing would be a shallow grave, but at the moment thats not an option. Besides, it's my first mod so it has sentimental value. It runs os x version 10.3.9 at about the speed that a turtle crosses the highway. At first i could deal with it, but now it is starting to get to me. So i ask my question to you.

    Do you think gentoo will run respectably on my system? All i use it for is

    • Web browsing
    • Chat
    • Music


    I chose gentoo because from what i hear it runs well on low end hardware and finding distrobutions for the power pc architecture is actually sort of difficult. I know i can get ubuntu but i dont know how well that would run.

    Thanks for the help guys. I really appreciate it.

    Lucius xoxo

    Edit: I got some sort of wierd error when i posted this. It flashed by really quick so i couldn't read it all. All i cought was something about duplicate threads so if this is on here multiple times, Sorry
    What if I'm a Snowstorm burning
    What if I'm a world unturning.

  2. #2
    Yuk it up Monkey Boy! Airbozo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    As far as a distro that would be tuned to run on the powerpc, gentoo is the way to go. Make sure you have plenty of time and a good connection since on that system it will take forever to load and compile the bits.
    "...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...

  3. #3
    Keepin' it Metal .Maleficus.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    Yeah, Gentoo will run fine on that, but the install is tricky if you don't read the directions carefully. Most of it is just typing the right commands at the right time, but you'll also be editing config files and you'll need to learn what USE flags you need, what they are, and how they affect your system, and you need to know what hardware you have (pretty specifically). That's only if you compile the kernel yourself, but if you have genkernel make a vanilla kernel for you, don't worry about it.

    That will all make more sense during the install.
    RIP Bucko

  4. #4
    SOB Fettler xmastree's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    <cough>xubunbu</cough>

    Quote Originally Posted by aintnothang View Post
    Think of a way to simulate a real bullet hole, like shooting it.

  5. #5
    Yuk it up Monkey Boy! Airbozo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    Quote Originally Posted by xmastree View Post
    <cough>xubunbu</cough>
    <cough>bloated kernel</cough>
    "...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...

  6. #6
    Religiously tolerant. Luke122's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    Hehe.. I'm a fan of DSL. DAMN SMALL LINUX. 50mb for a full OS, including a bunch of apps. Not sure if it would work for you though.. I suppose I could google that.

    \m/ d(-_-)b \m/

    R9 290X+Kraken+Corsair H90, Xeon 5649@4ghz, Asus P6T-WS Pro

  7. #7
    SOB Fettler xmastree's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    If we're going for small distros, I recommend puppy.

    Quote Originally Posted by aintnothang View Post
    Think of a way to simulate a real bullet hole, like shooting it.

  8. #8
    Yuk it up Monkey Boy! Airbozo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    The main difference in Gentoo is how it actually gets installed. Most distro's provide a base kernel that is modified for the hardware found. Depending on the distro, some drivers are loaded as modules (slow), and some are built into the kernel (fast). The way gentoo builds the kernel is from scratch (if you choose to), so that ONLY the drivers for the hardware installed on your system are compiled into the kernel and nothing else. Other distro's try to add common drivers into the kernel and build on top of that, or just create loadable modules. That is one of the reasons that gentoo installs take so long. A stage 1 install can take days to make happen and most of that time is waiting for the software to be compiled. It takes more front end time, but your system will run faster and be more stable. I usually go with the stage2 install and have only done the stage1 a couple of times. Stage3 install is the fastest, but last time I used that one the kernel was 30% bigger. I know they have modified some things recently so I may have another go at it.
    "...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...

  9. #9
    Would You kindly... luciusad2004's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    Quote Originally Posted by Airbozo View Post
    The main difference in Gentoo is how it actually gets installed. Most distro's provide a base kernel that is modified for the hardware found. Depending on the distro, some drivers are loaded as modules (slow), and some are built into the kernel (fast). The way gentoo builds the kernel is from scratch (if you choose to), so that ONLY the drivers for the hardware installed on your system are compiled into the kernel and nothing else. Other distro's try to add common drivers into the kernel and build on top of that, or just create loadable modules. That is one of the reasons that gentoo installs take so long. A stage 1 install can take days to make happen and most of that time is waiting for the software to be compiled. It takes more front end time, but your system will run faster and be more stable. I usually go with the stage2 install and have only done the stage1 a couple of times. Stage3 install is the fastest, but last time I used that one the kernel was 30% bigger. I know they have modified some things recently so I may have another go at it.
    If the kernal or drivers are tuned to my specific hardware will that make hardware upgrades more dificult? I can't see it happening but, it is theoretically possible that i may want to add more ram and if the prices ever drop and old school airport card. Would that pose a problem?

    I read through a large chunk of the install manual i found on the gentoo wiki a while ago. The manual i read was for x86 architecture but it seems logical that the process is the same. Still, i would read through it again before i did this and i would read the powerpc manual at that. If i find a good walk through i have complete confidence that i can do this.

    I still have some stuff i need to look in to before i decide if i want to go through with this but from what you guys are saying it sounds like a good choice.
    Also does anyone have any recomendations for a good window manager/ desktop enviroment. I read that gnome and kde aren't the fastest. I was going to look in to openbox/fluxbox and xfce.

    I'm going to download and print out the install manual tonight and read through it as time permits. It might be a little bit because i just started school so i've had a lot of reading to do.

    Thanks for the help guys.
    What if I'm a Snowstorm burning
    What if I'm a world unturning.

  10. #10
    t3h f3cKiN 33Ji7 calumc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gentoo question. Will it blend... i mean run.

    from what ive heard the newer versions of xfce arent much lighter than gnome or kde so you might want to look into an older one
    Quote Originally Posted by Crazy Buddhist View Post
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