Re: [gentoo-dev] Anyone appreciate this VERY dumb idea....

[Paul de Vrieze <pauldv@gentoo.org>]

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On Wednesday 23 July 2003 07:48, KH c wrote:
> Hello all Gentoo developer,
>   I get an (maybe dumb) idea: Gentoo is VERY OPTIMIZE
> for your hardware because you have to compile one
> program by another, and manual fix any problem happen.
> It is a turn off for Linux newbie even though s/he has
> a lot of patience. Is there a way to comprise?
>   Assuming the user has a lot time and no trouble
> happen inbetween.
>   I would suggest how about writing an intelligent
> installer that will automatically check dependency,
> download it and install it like urpmi in Manadrake or
> apt-get in Debian so even new user can enjoy the
> benefit of optimization WITHOUT the hardwork? i.e. I
> want to install X, just tell the program and it will
> take care of the whole process for me. Is it possible?
>   Or how about a pre-written scipt that will do the
> compile process for different type of pre-set usage
> like Desktop, Mutimedia, Networking, Internet? i.e. It
> is not a pre-installed package, it is a pre-set
> packager that will do the packaging right in front of
> the user's eye. Each user get the same package and
> script yet it is OPTIMIZE for their computer after
> they install it. What do you think about this idea?
>

Well, we are currently working on the Gentoo Reference Project which provides 
prebuild binaries with sensible defaults. That would make it possible to get 
up and running rather fast. Then a user can specify his optimisations and 
build new packages with those optimizations. We also have a utility that 
provides the recommended compilation flags for each architecture, and we do 
not advise to deviate from them too much. It is indeed very possible to make 
compilations fail with wrong useflags. (In some cases applications actually 
compile correctly but function wrong, or unpredictable).

Given no overagressive use flags it should be possible after the preliminary 
installation (from the installation documentation) to just say "emerge kde 
gnome mozilla" and have them all automatically installed. This process should 
run without errors and after some (well probably a lot depending on your 
hardware) time it should finish telling you that kde gnome and mozilla were 
merged. If this process does fail at some intermediary point, please report 
it as it is a bug and should not happen.

Paul

-- 
Paul de Vrieze
Researcher
Mail: pauldv@cs.kun.nl
Homepage: http://www.cs.kun.nl/~pauldv

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