[gentoo] installation

[Roger Oberholtzer]

On Wed, 08 Jan 2003 14:56:38 +0800
"m.w.chang" <mwchang at mail.hongkong.com> wrote:

> glancing the installation guide:
> 
> 1. must the internet be accessible when installing gentoo?

I would think so. It compiles from source, which it loads from the net.

It is possible to make binary install packages from a Gentoo system. So, I
would imagine that you could at least do subsequent installs without a
network. But you would have to set that up. There is discussion in the
Gentoo community about making a binary install. But, that removes one
advantage of Gentoo: consistent custom compilation.

I think there are binary installs available for a few big items, like
OpenOffice. Still, I let it go from scratch. After all, I did not need the
computer for a few days...

> 2. what are "Portage Tree" and "GRP"?

I think it is the structure of install scripts in /usr/portage. You use the
'emerge rsync' command to keep this tree up-to-date on your system. It
simply defines what you could choose to install. There is a KDE program
called 'kportage' that lets you explore it. Of course, they are all text
files and rather obvious. So you can also look as well.

I do not know what GRP is. In what context have you read this?

> 3. where does the `emerge` command get her source files? the cdrom?

The 'net. There is a list of sites that it gets things from. They are always
gentoo sites with copies of the things. Except, I think Win4Lin was
accessed directlry when I installed Merge.

> 4. can I use my own kernel source (say a direct download from
>     kernel.org plus xfs patch for 2.4.20) instead of the one bndled
>     on the liveCd (ie, xfs-sources)?

Yes. But then you do that on your own as you always did. I have the
'vanilla' 2.4.20 kernel installed by Gentoo. You do have the choice of a
generic original Kernel. You are not required to use a Gentoo-modified one.

As to xfs patches: perhaps there is an ebuild (a.k.a. install script) that
handles this xfs stuff directly. I am just looking into xfs for my /home,
which is not a separate file system in the Gentoo build (yet).

> 5. if I choose to expand the Stage-3 tbz2 from the LiveCD,
>     does it mean I could skip stage 1 and stage 2 altoghter?

I think the docs imply this. But I personally did the install step by step.
For me, that was part of the exercise. Of course. if you do a stage3 install
directly, and then decide you want some pre-compiled part to be recompiled
with your favorite local options, just emerge that part again.

Once you set up a Gentoo system, if you stay up-to-date with your portage
tree (by running; 'emerge rsync; emerge -u -deep system'), then,
effectively, you always have the current Gentoo release. No need to
reinstall. This is a strong point with Gentoo.

So, if you install stage3 direct, you have not cancelled any options.

(Note: some people prefer 'world' instead of 'system' in the command above.
'system' is more complete. But, you get the idea.)

-- 
+????????????????????????????+???????????????????????????????+
? Roger Oberholtzer          ?   E-mail: roger at opq.se        ?
? OPQ Systems AB             ?      WWW: http://www.opq.se/  ?
? Erik Dahlbergsgatan 41-43  ?    Phone: Int + 46 8   314223 ?
? 115 34 Stockholm           ?   Mobile: Int + 46 733 621657 ?
? Sweden                     ?      Fax: Int + 46 8   302602 ?
+????????????????????????????+???????????????????????????????+