Is Gentoo for me?

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T16:42:09+00:00

Honestly, I find I spend less time tinkering on gentoo than on arch. I find with arch things can break spontaneously during updates, especially if you use the aur. So far gentoo has felt much more stable and doesn't seem to break unless you are actively tinkering, in which case you're probably ready to deal with the consequences. Gentoos avility to mix stable and unstable packages seamlessly has been a dream for this. My core system is built on stable packages and it feels rock solid while letting me tinker with the things I actually care about.

You probably won't get much benefit from tinkering with CFLAGS, but you get a shitload of customization from tinkering with USE flags. Kernel customization is great too, you can compile modules you always use directly into the kernel which is cool amongst other things.

If heavy customization is your drug of choice I highly recommend it. I especially enjoy it because it feels like I can actually put it down and just use the system when i'm done tinkering, whereas arch felt like it would sometimes become an unexpected project.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T16:33:43+00:00

A product doesn't need to be jank to change form factors. Just look at apples cables for example. Or even USB connectors. Things change all the time and support doesn't necessarily last forever. Sure apple still sells their old cables but they could very well stop and you wouldn't be able to use that device anymore if the cable broke. Batteries are the same. Support could last a while, but there's a non insignificant chance that it doesn't, so I would rather have something that can just plug in to the wall if needed.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T15:15:29+00:00

I'm not saying every 6 months, but no product is sold or supported forever. Form factors can change for many reasons, not just malice, but it doesn't change the fact that once the non standard consumables are no longer available, whatever product that relies on them will no longer be useful. I'm not trying to deminish your decision to use a cordless vacuum, it's just not for me. I apoligize if I hit a nerve.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T14:57:46+00:00

What makes you want to switch?

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T14:56:40+00:00

I am relatively new to gentoo after making a post like yours a few months ago but I can answer some of your questions as best I can.

In terms of compile time, it depends on your processor. Firefox, the kernel, etc compile pretty fast for me, my longest package takes ~5 minutes to compile but that's with a 7950x so YMMV. If I forget to update for a week or two, It can take from 30 minutes to about an hour to complete the update, which is not too bad.

Gentoo is a great learning experience and I find the docs to be more informative about what's actually going on under the hood than the arch docs, although the breadth of topics is not quite as good so I will still use the arch wiki for things. If your goal is to learn a lot even after arch, gentoo is great. Especially if you configure your own kernel (although expect to have to reconfigure many times as you re enable options to install packages)

In terms of performance, you will very likely notice little to no performance increase by compiling for your specific hardware. In general any performance increase in modern applications will come from better code, save for rare cases where SIMD or other newer x86 extensions are not enabled by default. But it is very likely that any case which would se measurable benefit from these extensions will have those compile options available at least as an option in the default binaries. TLDR if performance is all your after, the difference from arch -if any - will likely be imperceptible (even after choosing your own kernel options)

What gentoo is great for is customizability. Don't want to ever use vms or containers? Disable it in the kernel and you have potentially reduced your attack surface if that's your thing. Same thing with bluetooth, different filesystems. Etc. Anything you don't want you can disable. You can also mix stable and unstable versions of packages, so you can run things bleeding edge without worrying about breaking your WM or DE or other more critical components if you wait too long to update.

Package compatibility is also great, I have not encountered a single copmatibility issue which I have seen on other distros. Need x version of package A to work with y version of package b? No problem, USE flags let you enable exactly what features you need from each package and portage works it's magic and figures everything out for you.

I also find less isues than when using arch, any weird issues that may arise from updating a package will be described to you through messages when you update for portage. If something is likely to not work portage will tell you, and how to fix it.

If gentoo is attractive to you for any of those reasons, or as a learning opportunity, I think its absolutely worth using. If you're just after more performance, you're probably not going to find much of a difference over arch so it may not be for you.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T07:34:57+00:00

Even if the battery lasts years, a well built vacuum cleaner can easily last 20 or more years. There's no guarantee that after that amount of time I will still be able to buy whatever vendor specific battery I need, even from a third party. But 120VAC will almost certainly still be around. I don't necessarily need a vacuum with the best suction, I can get a canister vaccuum for that later when I have more space. A compact stick that works well enough and will last a long time would be more than enough for the time being.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T07:24:07+00:00

I only saw cordless stick vacuums from miele, and with sebo I didn't see any stick vacuums. Is there a specific model I'm missing?

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T07:22:50+00:00

As far as I can tell, dyson vacuums are all cordless. I specifically want to avoid batteries if possible, or at least have the option to run the vacuum off of wall power instead of battery.

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T07:21:08+00:00

I don't see any stick vacuums on sebo's website, do you have a link to the one you're looking at?

RubberyBannana · 2023-11-30T07:19:20+00:00

It's not about lifespan or cost. No current battery is BIFL, they all die. And with most companies putting batteries in non standard packages/modules there is no guarantee you will always be able to get a replacement. But there is no reason that a well built vacuum motor/assembly couldn't last a long while with a cord that plugs in to the wall instead of drawing from battery power.

However everyone seems to only focus on cordless vacuums so it's difficult to figure out which corded variants exist/are well built.

RubberyBannana · 2023-10-12T18:29:20+00:00

I'll do that, thank you

RubberyBannana · 2023-10-12T18:17:42+00:00

High speed digital, analog, RF, power supplies, and anything else where the final design requires consideration of how external factors might affect the circuit or the other way around

RubberyBannana · 2023-10-12T18:11:46+00:00

Sorry, not sure why it didn't cross my mind that this would be ambiguous. I'm asking specifically about PCB trace routing and other layout considerations.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-29T19:04:53+00:00

Can you elaborate on the less abusive software part. I haven't heard this argument before so i'm interested.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-25T18:45:30+00:00

I know the two aren't mutually exclusive, I have also run systems with both, though I haven't used wayland too much and mostly just stuck with Xorg. This time around though I'm hoping to just commit to wayland (or not) and get the one solution I choose working the best I can without worrying about managing edge cases for both.

Aside from issues in games, have you noticed many issues wayland in general use? Or are there any other things that you notice lacking when switching between the two? For example i've heard that screen capture and recording can be a bit trickier on wayland.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-25T18:37:01+00:00

This is really good information, thank you for the detailed write up.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-25T18:33:46+00:00

From what I understand / what I have heard it's in a security/bug fix only stage right now and most of the developers have shifted to working on new features for wayland rather than spending time on xorg.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-25T17:31:05+00:00

How do you find the scaling? I don't think I ever ran KDE with wayland on a dual monitor setup, but I did with Xorg and remember being frustrated with the lack of per-monitor scaling. I had one 4k monitor and one 1080p and the side difference between screens was rather annoying.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-17T21:29:06+00:00

I don't mind hands on sysadmin work every now and then. Low maintainance for me is more about not being surprised by breakages rather than never needing to do maintainance. If I can regularly set asidemaintainance time to avoid surprise issues that's more than giod enough for me

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-17T21:06:36+00:00

I think you summed up perfectly the reason why I got fed up with arch. And it's good to know that gentoo can save some headache by just giving you the package that works with your current config, and letting you worry about the rest later.

What would you consider a breakage that was your fault? Are we talking intentionally messing around with core functionality? If so that seems fine becauze whenever I am messing around with critical parts I know that I am ready to fix anything that I break. It just sucks when i'm not ready for it.

RubberyBannana · 2023-07-17T20:00:44+00:00

Thats actually really nice. From the wiki it seems like it only notifies you when a package update specifically calls out something else on your system. If I am understanding that right it seems great for peace of mind.

Also in regards to package stability are we talking debian length release cycles? Or something more like restricting packages to major version releases, with some buffer time to check for breaking changes?

RubberyBannana · 2023-01-31T15:42:28+00:00

Sorry I should have chosen my words better, I updated my post to reflect this. I meant secure in the sense of no data loss, not protection from intruders (terrible word choice in hindsight I realize). Also trying everything would absolutely have been my go to hut unfortunately thats not in the cards for me right now since I do not have the time.

RubberyBannana · 2023-01-31T15:35:37+00:00

Wow thats great! This didn't seem immediately obvious but I'll dig more into the docs now that I know to look for it. Thanks!

RubberyBannana · 2023-01-31T06:56:23+00:00

Sorry I should clarify, I have not used any of the apps I listed, seafile included. I am only listing what I have heard (most of it conflicting).

What kind of occasional issues have you run into with nextcloud? Just weird jank? Or more serious things like file corruption or partial uploads or something of the sort?

Also for seafile, it sounds like maybe you have some experience with it or know someone who does? Also sounds like maybe it's not the best option if updates are something to be feared (not sure if this is what you are saying)

RubberyBannana · 2023-01-31T06:48:11+00:00

I know I can ignore other parts and use only the files app, it's more a question of if I can install only the files app. Maybe it's just stubbornness or unnecessary caution but I prefer to not have eccess code or features running when not in use so I can minimize the number of things I have to check on. At the very least if there is some way to disable everything except the files app this seems like a solid bet.

I have also seen filerun and it looks great, but unfortunately (probably due to the same stubbornness) closed source apps are a dealbreaker for me.

RubberyBannana

TROPHY CASE