Re: [gentoo-user] Is Gentoo still on the right path?

[Richard Fish <bigfish@asmallpond.org>]

On 11/16/05, Derek Tracy <tracyde@gmail.com> wrote:
> When a branch is marked stable all of the packages in that branch should
> work,

I'm not sure this is always possible.  Much of your complaint comes
from the ipw2200 driver, which is new in 2.6.14.  But the in-kernel
version is several versions older than the external driver.  So should
2.6.14 remain marked as unstable because of this one driver that works
for some people, but not for others?  Or because a specific externally
maintained driver or package doesn't build against it?

On my system, either the in-kernel or external drivers work fine.  The
only caveat is that I need firmware version 2.2 with the in-kernel
drivers, and a different version for the external.  If I am using the
external version, the portage dependancy tree makes sure I have the
right version of the firmware.  But the kernel sources do not (and
should not) depend upon the ipw2200-firmware package, so this is a
case where I need to know the driver requirements.  (Also, the kernel
help specifies that the driver requires external firmware, although it
doesn't specify what version.)

Regarding the X.org issue, without an Xorg.0.log file, it is really
impossible to say what the problem there is.  It could be something as
simple as your kernel configuration; for example leaving out I2C or
AGP support could cause this.

But in my view, you cannot take an existing xorg.conf file and expect
it to work without any issues _without_ duplicating the same system
configuration (kernel version, kernel config, and nvidia driver
version).  The fastest method of configuring X on a new system is to
run "X -configure", test the resulting configuration, and use that
xorg.conf file.  Yes, this would use the opensource x.org Nv driver,
but it should definitely work for getting X up and running.  If this
doesn't work, then you have reason to complain.

If the proprietary nvidia driver doesn't work with a particular kernel
version, you can only complain to nvidia.

I'm quite sure a binary-based distribution would have worked better
for you in this case, only because nothing would have been upgraded or
changed.  Everything that worked before would have continued to work,
just like everything that was broken before would have continued to be
broken.  It is the price of progress, IMO.

-Richard

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