Re: [gentoo-user] it keeps growing

[Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com>]

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On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 7:14 AM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hund wrote:
> > On June 1, 2021 3:38:30 PM GMT+02:00, n952162 <n952162@web.de> wrote:
> >> 337 packages this month to be updated.  It keeps getting more and
more.
> >> Pretty soon, gentoo will overtake Bitcoin in energy use.
> >>
> >>
> > One might then ask why you have so many packages? And why you have a
computer that consumes enough power for you to be worried about it?
> >
> > --
> > Hund
> >
> >
>
>
> I was thinking along the lines of how many packages even binary distros
> have to update.  I've installed binary based distros before and when
> updating those, there can be hundreds, several hundred, packages to
> upgrade.  Thing is, those same packages exist in Gentoo.  If one has a
> very similar set of packages installed, odds are, almost the same
> packages will update in either a source based distro like Gentoo or in a
> binary based distro.  The only difference is Gentoo compiles from source.
>
> If one is really concerned about compile times or the amount of power
> needed to run Gentoo up to date, then one has to question not the
> updates but why use Gentoo??  While some large packages are available in
> binary, Firefox, Libreoffice etc, the vast majority of Gentoo is
> compiled from source.  It's why most people use Gentoo, compile from
> source with features set like you want.  If one is limited in hardware
> or power, Gentoo may not be a good option.
>
> Makes one think.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)

I totally get why the Linux enthusiast or an IT guy tasked with specific
requirements runs Gentoo. I did from 2001 through maybe early 2018.

There are numerous reasons I moved from Gentoo to Kubuntu 3-4 years ago:

- Kubuntu updates take, in general, less than 1 minute, almost never more
than 5, with an average of 2-3/week. I don't believe I spend more than 10
minutes on average any week maintaining my machines. Most important to me
is in 3-4 years not a single one has failed. Download a little binary,
install, done. Distribution updates (major rev -> major rev) take less than
an hour and this is once a year or two. They are so infrequent that I
typically forget how to do them and have to go read instructions.

- Maintaining a simple Gentoo install with no desktop from source wasn't
bad but the KDE overhead on older laptops was insane for my needs.

- I personally could not perceive any speed advantages in my daily life
running Gentoo. I'm sure there would be some if I was into benchmarking but
I'm not.

- Gentoo lost its way (IN MY OPINION ONLY, and maybe it's better now) 4-5
years ago in terms of a simple 'stable' release. There was a time when I
couldn't update without ~amd64-ing some packages.

- I use two paid-for non-open source applications - Harrison Mixbus (based
on Ardour) and PixInsight. It's WAY easier to get support when running the
same distro these vendor runs and it's been a BIG help in my life to get
that support.

   Sadly, I don't have nearly the knowledge of how things work under the
hood on Kubuntu and the user level community is very quiet so I try to make
general contributions here just to stay connected. This is still the best
user group I know of. Friendly, informative experts.

Just my 1.5 cents worth as I listen to Hunky Dory,
Mark

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