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375Chapter 13Running Gentoo LinuxBegin with the following CD image: install-x86-minimal-2004.2.iso.Thisbootable minimal install CD image (only about 78MB) includes just enough softwareto begin the install procedure. This CD image is included on the CD that comes withthis book, so you can copy and burn that image to CD to start this installation pro- cedure. You can also find this image in any Gentoo mirror site (in thereleases/x86/2004.2/livecddirectory). If you have a slow computer or no broadband Internet connection, I recommendthat you get the universal CD instead, as well as the packages CD before you begininstalling. Those two CDs will enable you to do a complete Gentoo install withoutneeding to get on the Internet. You can download the disk images from Gentoo mirrorsites (refer to www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xmlfor the locations of Gentoomirror sites). Here s where you can find the universal and packages CD images: .install-x86-universal-2004.2.iso. This bootable install CD image contains enough software to enable you to have a working Gentoo systemwithout going on the Internet. It is located in releases/x86/2004.2/livecddirectories on a mirror site. .packages-x86-2004.2.iso. This nonbootable CD image contains many popular packages you might want with Gentoo. The contents include popular, precompiled packages that you can add after the basic Gentoo system isinstalled. While this CD saves you download and compile time, it does notletyou do the optimization for your particular machine on the packages itincludes. Its image is located in releases/x86/2004.2/packagecd/x86onamirror site. By the time you read this, there will certainly be a later version of Gentoo available. If you decide to use a later version, you should find the associated install proce- dure from the Gentoo site. Version numbers include the year and release number. For example, 2004.2 represents the second release in 2004. For a more detailed description of the Gentoo install process, refer to the GentooLinux/x86 Handbook (www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml). Starting Gentoo InstallationHere are the minimum computer requirements for a Gentoo installation using thex86 procedure described in this chapter: .1GB of hard disk space .64MB of RAM .A 486 processor (or better) .300MB of total memory (combined RAM and swap) Note20_

374Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionSimply step through the /usr/portagedirectory structure to see the softwarepackages you can install, information about how each is built, and patches that areavailable. Installing GentooA Gentoo installation is more like building your own Linux than it is like typicalLinux installs. While many Linux installations start you with a precompiled set ofsoftware and nice screens to lead you through, Gentoo boots you to a shell andexpects you to set up the computer by hand. In the example installation, you llevenbuild your own binaries from source code. To someone who has never used Linux (or other UNIX systems), Gentoo installscanappear daunting. If you can tough through it, however, you will learn what goesinto setting up and making a Linux system in a way that you won t find in any otherLinux distribution. The advantages to your installing Gentoo are that, as mentioned earlier, there isexcellent documentation available and an extraordinary community supportingGentoo. If you make it through the install, you will have: .A tuned system. Because you are making decisions about your software beforethe binaries are produced, you can tune your system to be built specificallyfor the hardware you are using. You can tell Gentoo the exact processor, filesystem types, sound cards, or other features you want built into the kernel orloadable modules. .The software you want. Gentoo enables you to select the software you wantto install, and because you are compiling it yourself, you can even tell Gentoowhat features to include with it. For example, if you are adding the Evolutione-mail client, you can choose to include (or not include) LDAP support forshared address books on your network. .Fewer dependency issues. When you build software yourself, dependencyissues are taken care of at compile time, so you don t have to worry about get- ting a software package that was created for a different architecture or kernel. Your applications will be built for your operating system because you buildthem that way. Getting GentooThe Gentoo Linux distribution is available in several different forms. To provide thefull feel of installing Gentoo, this chapter illustrates a Gentoo install that is done froma minimal disk image. You will download and compile most of the software you need(including the kernel itself). To do this procedure, you need a broadband Internetconnection (no dial-up).

373Chapter 13Running Gentoo LinuxTo update your Portage directory tree so that it contains the latest information toinstall software packages, type the following: # emerge syncTo get your Gentoo system up-to-date, use the -u worldoption. The following command checks all the software packages you have installed on your computerand then goes to a Gentoo mirror site to download and install the latest versions ofeach of those packages: # emerge -u worldTo view the many other options available with emerge, type man emergeor runemergewith the help option: # emerge -h | lessYou can use emergeto install packages that are contained on your local computeror have the packages downloaded automatically from Gentoo software mirror sites. During the build process, emergehandles getting all the dependencies that the soft- ware you choose requires. Finding Software PackagesPart of the Gentoo installation process includes installing the Portage directorytreein the /usr/portagedirectory. You can step around that directory to see thepackages that are available. As I mentioned earlier, there are several thousand tochoose from. Software packages fall into the following categories: .app Applications software packages, such as editors, anti-virus software, administrative tools, accessibility tools, CD writing applications, and manyother packages. .dev A wide variety of development tools. .games Dozens of board, arcade, first-person-shooter, puzzle, and strategygames, and games servers. .media A variety of audio, video, and other multimedia tools. .net Communications, server, firewall, and other network tools. .sys System configuration tools. .www Web communications servers and related software packages. .x11 Miscellaneous tools for the X Window System graphical interface, alongwith related themes and window managers.

372Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionGentoo s focus on tools for managing and building source code has helped makeGentoo extraordinarily portable. Besides the common x86 (PC) version of Gentoo, there are Gentoo ports for AMD64, PowerPC, UltraSparc, ALpha, and MIPS proces- sors. There are also optimized Linux kernels available with Gentoo for different specific processors within each architecture. Some of the ports are still a work inprogress, so at the moment you will probably get the best experience using an x86platform to run Gentoo. To explore Gentoo, it s more appropriate to start with the tools for getting what youwant than it is to talk about what you end up with. If you build Gentoo turned toyour hardware and include just the software that you need, your system isn t goingto look like any other Gentoo system. Managing Software with PortageAt the heart of Gentoo is the Portage software management system. Based on theFreeBSD Ports system, Portage enables you to find, download, configure, build, andinstall the exact software you choose. Using the portage system can give you some excellent insights into how Linux iscreated. As Daniel Robbins says, . . .we are documenting how to build a Linux system at the same time we are moving Gentoo Linux development forward. Those developing software are encouraged not only to contribute their software tothe Gentoo project but also to contribute the scripts they use to build that software. Portage tools and build scripts open up Linux technology beginning at the source- code level. Key components of the Portage package management system include the emergecommand and the package build scripts (contained in the /usr/portagedirec- tory). You can use these tools to build the entire Gentoo distribution from scratchor rely on some prebuilt binaries to save some compile time. In most cases, youwon t have to modify any configuration files to get a solid Gentoo installation. Following are some examples of the emergecommand that you can use with Gentoo. To use some of the examples, you need to either have a connection to the Internetor have downloaded all package updates to your local computer. When the emergecommand is run to install software or to get updated software packages, it looks ona Gentoo mirror site if it can t find the packages it needs locally. The first examplelets you search (-s) the /usr/portagedirectory tree for packages that interestyou (substitute the package name you want for package): # emerge -s packageTo build and install a package you choose, simply type emergewith the packagename: # emerge package20_

371Chapter 13Running Gentoo LinuxWith the slant toward personal use, there is a lot of interest in Gentoo forums for con- figuring desktops, configuring multimedia applications, and getting popular gamesrunning. There are also significant discussions about securing Gentoo because mostof its security tools don t come with friendly, graphical interfaces and require a lotof manual setup. Despite that fact that you can use Gentoo to create an extraordinarily efficient, finely tuned Linux desktop or server, the distribution is not yet widely accepted inbusiness or educational institutions. There are probably several reasons for that: .Stability.To stay on the bleeding edge of the latest Linux software, Gentoosacrifices the extreme level of stability demanded by most businesses. People I know who use Gentoo on their personal computers tend to use Debianor Fedora Core for small Web, file, or print servers when they do consulting work, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Linux for larger enterprise installations. .Support.There are no official support packages offered with Gentoo, so ifsomething goes wrong, there is no official help available (although the forumscan be quite helpful). .Training.If you are supporting a lot of machines, the people who supportthose machines will need training. Unlike Red Hat or SUSE Linux, you can tgettraining from the creators of Gentoo. So far, the factors just mentioned have kept Gentoo from making any significantinroads into enterprise computing. However, as a learning tool and a personal Linuxdistribution, Gentoo is hard to beat. What s in GentooNo two Gentoo systems are alike because you can select and build only the piecesof Linux you want to use. Coming into 2005, there were more than 7,000 softwarepackages available for the project, and the list was growing. Unlike distributions such as Red Hat and SUSE Linux, Gentoo tends to not force itsown look-and-feel on the projects it includes. Each software package ported to aGentoo system gives the user a view of the included open source software packagesas they were intended from the individual projects. For example, a KDE desktop lookslike a KDE desktop as it was delivered from the KDE project itself; there are no Gentoomenus and icons or graphical administration tools to alter it. Note20_

370Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux Distribution .What hardware you might have.Most distributions install tons of modules tosupport hardware that you might someday add (it will load them as you needthem into the kernel). It will also build a kernel for you that includes supportfor features that it believes you do need (for example, some distributionsinclude ext3 file system report, expecting that to be your basic file systemtype). With Gentoo, you can choose exactly what features are in the kerneltosupport only the hardware you know you have. Likewise, you can get andinstall drivers for hardware if you decide to install that hardware later. .What services you want.Some Linux distributions suffer some performanceproblems by having processes taking up memory for services that you don tnecessarily want (such as daemons for Web, file, print, and other server types). With Gentoo, you can be selective to a fine detail about the services that areinstalled and running on Gentoo (including the order in which they are started). .What software is available.Linux distributions such as Red Hat EnterpriseLinux offer a preset selection of software packages that are well-tested andintegrated into a set of CDs or DVDs. Gentoo has a massive repository of soft- ware packages from which you can choose the exact packages you need. Eachpackage carries its own set of dependencies with it as well, so you don t haveto add every library or utility to your system to support software you mightwant someday. With an Internet connection and the emergetool, you canalways add more software you need, when you need it. .What features are available.Because in Gentoo you are making decisionsabout what software you use at compile time, you can select to turn on or offoptional features within each software component. For example, if you arebuilding Mozilla mail, you can choose whether the package you build willinclude support for LDAP address books. In theory, removing support forunneeded features makes the software you end up with run faster and uselessmemory. The features just described help characterize the type of person who is attracted toGentoo. Gentoo enthusiasts like to configure, tune, tweak, and update their Linuxsystems continuously, and Gentoo users generally end up with systems that runfaster, take up less disk space, and run in less memory than would be the case withany other Linux that you just get off a shelf. Where Gentoo Is UsedAs you may have guessed by now, Gentoo is most popular with Linux enthusiasts astheir personal Linux systems. Among Gentoo users you find those who like to tinkerwith desktops and run servers where performance is critical (such as game servers). Because Gentoo can be so easily configured and tuned, users can make very efficientLinux desktop and server systems that include only the software needed for theparticular job.

369Chapter 13Running Gentoo LinuxThe Gentoo CommunityThe open source spirit of Gentoo pervades its community. The size and activity ofthat community is best reflected in its forums (http://forums.gentoo.org), inwhich there are literally hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of new posts perday. If there s something about Gentoo you can t find using Google, try searchingthe Gentoo forums. To get a sense of the activity levels on the forums, check out the board statistics(http://forums.gentoo.org/statistics.php). You can see how many posts, topics, and users there are in the forums per day. You can also see, and visit, themost active topics in the forums. Many Gentoo enthusiasts seem to live on the forums. Although most of the postsstick closely to Linux, nobody seems to blink an eye when someone posts questionsabout the existence of God or what to do when a guy s wife has left him. The forumsverge on the feel of a coffeehouse at times. It never hurts to start with the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) forums. However, I think most will want to start with the Installing Gentoo forum (becauseyou are likely to get hung up on installation when you first try installing it). If youare interested in live communications about Gentoo, try the Gentoo IRC #gentoochannel at irc.freenote.net(you can use xchatin most Linux systems to accessIRC channels). Another good starting forum is the Documentation, Tips, & Tricksforum, where you can find cool little tricks to tweak your system. Building, Tuning, and Tweaking LinuxGentoo is sometimes referred to as the build-from-source Linux system. Most otherLinux distributions give you a set of prebuilt packages to install and never expectyou to build the whole system yourself. While you can get Gentoo with packagesprebuilt for you, the distribution was made for you to be able to build the Linux kernel and all packages right on the machine where you will install it. When you install from prebuilt binary software packages, which is expected withGentoo and most other Linux distributions, many decisions have already been madefor you about what each package includes and what it is tuned for. By building aGentoo distribution from source code, you can create a distribution that specifi- cally takes into account the following about your situation: .What processor you are running on.Most distributions choose a particulararchitecture (such as x86, PowerPC, or Sparc) and a generic selection of settingsfor using the processor. With Gentoo, however, you can choose the exact typeof processor you re using and compile all software to take advantage of featuresfrom that processor (while not including features specific to other processors).

368Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionThe Portage software distribution management system is the key technology thatseparates Gentoo from other Linux distributions. Based on the BSD Ports system, Portage can be used to build almost the entire Gentoo distribution from sourcecodes, and manage and upgrade that software as well. Gentoo s Open Source SpiritAlthough Gentoo could someday produce a commercial Linux distribution, Robbinsand the Gentoo project are committed to the goals of open source software, whilestill allowing those who use the software to make money. Ways that those goals arereflected in Gentoo and not in other distributions include: .Passing bug fixes upstream.Software bugs in open source projects are oftenshaken out when actual Linux distributions are put together. When a distribu- tion finds a bug, it is considered good practice to pass the fix to that bugupstream, to the project maintaining the original software. Not passing bug fixes upstream could potentially give a commercial Linux distribution an advantage over other distributions that don t have the fix. There have been many cases where fixes in early Red Hat Linux and othercommercial distributions have not made it to the upstream projects. Gentoo, on the other hand, has a reputation for sharing bug fixes with the open sourcecommunity. .Transparent development process. Not only is the open source softwaremade available to everyone, but the tools for building that software are alsofreely distributed. Gentoo users can see exactly what their software contains, along with all the decisions made to build that software. It is also a fairly sim- ple procedure to change any of those build decisions in the process of usersbuilding their own Gentoo software. .Choices for creating Gentoo.You can build your own Gentoo Linux from thesource code pages (as described in this chapter) or start from prebuilt binarypackages provided by the Gentoo project. Freedom, in the Gentoo philosophy, means to let users create the kind of Linux system the users want. So, if usersdon t want to make decisions about how their packages are built, they cansimply take ready-made packages from the Gentoo project. .Not-for-profit organization. When the Linux distribution is dedicated to thecommunity and not beholden to stockholders, open source enthusiasts oftenfeel better about freely contributing to improving that distribution. Gentoo isa not-for-profit organization. This open source spirit has also helped Gentoo gain a community that is extraordi- narily active and helpful to its members.

Running GentooLinuxGentoo is a rising star of Linux distributions among Linuxenthusiasts. Of all the popular distributions, this is thefirst one I d recommend to a technically oriented friend whowanted to learn Linux and the last one I d recommend to mywife ( Just show me what button to click for my e-mail ). That sbecause to install and maintain Gentoo effectively, you haveto care (to an almost unnatural extent) about what is going onwith your computer. This chapter describes why you might want to use Gentoo, what the Gentoo community is like, and how to get and installGentoo Linux. The Gentoo universal install CD image is included on theDVD that comes with this book. You can copy and burn theGentoo image to CD as described in Appendix A. Becausethis CD does not contain a complete Gentoo install, you willneed an Internet connection or some medium containingthe needed Gentoo packages (CD, DVD, or hard disk) to getthe software you need to complete the Gentoo installation. Understanding GentooPerformance and efficiency were the critical goals that led tothe creation of the Gentoo Linux distribution. A dedication tothe spirit of open source software (and to those drawn to it) has been a key to its incredible growth. In the few years it has been in existence, Gentoo has grownfrom having one maintainer its creator, Daniel Robbins tohaving more than 250 active developers. It boasts perhapsthe strongest user community among all Linux distributions. Gentoo users seem willing to contribute so freely becausethey feel that they get back what they give to Gentoo. On theCD-ROM1313CHAPTER …In This ChapterUnderstandingGentooWhat s in GentooInstalling Gentoo …

366Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux Distribution .Yellow Dog Linux User Channel If you are comfortable with IRC (InternetRelay Chat), you can use irc.freenode.netand join #yellowdog for interac- tive support that is community driven. .Yellow Dog Official Support If you can t find the information you needfromthe previous sources or http://yellowdoglinux.com/support/ installation/, you can purchase support from Terra Soft Solutions throughhttp://terrasoftsolutions.com/tss_contact.shtml. If you purchasedYellow Dog Linux through Terra Soft Solutions with 60 days of support, you cancontact the company through http://terrasoftsolutions.com/support/. If you need software support after your installation, use some of the other moregeneric support options available from the Linux community. These options includeusing a search engine to search for the problem and visiting community-driven Websites such as the following: .The Linux Documentation Project(http://tldp.org/) The premier Website for how-to guides for using the Linux operating system. .Linux Journal Help Desk(http://linuxjournal.com/helpdesk.php) Offers guidance on using Linux. .Just Linux(http://justlinux.com/) Offers some basic guides onLinuxuse. .Linux.com Tips(http://tips.linux.com/) Offers some great tips. You can use your favorite search engine to find more of the many, many helpfulLinux Web sites out there. The Linux community is generally very supportive of new users, and you can findhelp from local Linux User Groups (LUGs) or via many places on the Internet. SummaryYellow Dog Linux is a very stable, fully functioning version of Fedora Core availableon the PowerPC platform. It has the capability to extend the life of your Mac hardwareand to run Mac OS 9 or below or even Mac OS X on your running Linux installationusing Mac-on-Linux. Linux is not the sole domain of the X86 community, and nowPowerPC users can use Linux while still enjoying their Mac OS or Mac OS X environ- ment through multibooting or using the innovative Mac-on-Linux software. …