Name a single reason why gentoo isn't the best linux distro

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Takes too long to build packages on shitty thinkpads.

Takes too long to build packages, period

Just installed it and still have to spend several days just to get my favorite software, plus there are no good DEs that don't require systemd and aren't autistic twm's

Sadly, Portage packages aren't suited for binary distribution, and compiling them yourself on your average craptop takes ages. Thank you based USE flags.

>inb4 emerge pacman

Only like your browser and xorg takes a long time to build. And there's binaries for the browser

fpbp

Because unlike Funtoo it uses rsync for repo updating instead of git.

Solus exists

No systemd

Is it possible to backup your gentoo like you can on other distros, and restore it instead of having to go through the tedious process of installing gentoo again?

yes ofcourse why the fuck wouldn't it be

compile everything

that dosen't change anything.

but you can use gentoo with systemd if you want to

It's a waste of time.

Every minute I spend maintaining my computer is a minute not using it for something, possibly something productive.

emerge -uv world after not doing it for a few months means your box will compiling all day.

dnf update means you're done in a few minutes.

Portage is a bloated PoS that does more than it should (doesn't follow KISS) and is written (mostly) in fucking Python.
Pacman is mostly written in C and keeps it simple.
Even the Solus devs realize a package manager in Python is a fucking horrible idea, that's why they are going to move away from eopkg and use sol when it is ready.

this

even if you don't upgrade for a year on Fedora or Arch, as long as home as on a separate partition you can just reformat / and do a reinstall and get it configured the way you like in less than an hour. To reinstall gentoo would take days.

Pacman breaks your fucking computer when you try to pacman -Syu

no it doesn't

These kinds of issues with updating after a long time are inherent to all rolling release distros, not just arch or pacman.

agreed, hell this could even happen to you on Windows if you go for too long without letting it update.

In case anyone is wondering
Pacman - C
Apt - C++
Yum - Python
Portage - Python
eopkg - Python
sol - C
Zypper - C++
Sorcery - bash/sh (most package managers use some bash/sh, Sorcery is only bash/sh)
urmpi - Perl

Basically if you judge a distro only based on package management, Arch is the best. Solus is trying. Honorable mention to Source Mage.

>I prefer tools that are written in C over C++
Is this bait?

Let's say I bought (or built) an expensive and powerful desktop. How long would it take to install gentoo and compile all the software I like?

Reason I ask is because I'm running gentoo on a crappy desktop I bought from Best Buy in 2014, really only meant for office work. It's not a toaster or anything, but it wasn't exactly top of the line in 2014 either. Took 2 days to compile the base system (desktop/plasma), another day to get graphics and plasma compiled and installed, and about another week of configuring and compiling tools/software.

>Im too fucking stupid to use enoch so Im gonna use ghantoo

really makes you think

Don't wait months to update and you can do other things while that happens

>and is written (mostly) in fucking Python
That's a fair point. It'd be nice if it got ported to another, faster language. Hell, just compile it with Cython and enjoy a 10x speedup

You can always just use systemd. Gentoo allows you that choice

Are you retarded? You can have separate home and / on Gentoo like any other distro.

Also, if it takes you days to install that's your fault. It shouldn't take more than a day the first time you do it.

There are distros that work just as well, take less time, and still offer the choice to compile your software. Therefore, it can't be the best.

Its exclusively source-based
If it was dual binary/source I would rate it as one of the best

>hurrr durrrr I can't read

I never said that you can't have separate partitions on gentoo. I said the reinstall would take forever on gentoo, but would only take at most an hour on other distros.

>more than a day
You are lying through your teeth. You know damn well that in order to compile the base packages and install the bare system, plus a working X system, plus a functional DE, plus actual software to use, will take several days.

>plus there are no good DEs that don't require systemd and aren't autistic twm's
Eudev and elogind exist for a reason

Only 2 things currently:
Rsync for updates
Portage is written in Python. (Should be C)

Besides that, it is the best.

Stupid meme, desu.

because corelets

Because LFS is better

>If it was dual binary/source
it is
wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Binary_package_guide
portage is the be all end all pkg manager

>portage is the be all end all pkg manager
it really is. gentoo is the absolute best GNU/Linux distro in term of choices and freedom

Learning portage/emerge is like learning another operating system. I went through the installation guide in a day but spent weeks combing through the wiki learning how to actually use Gentoo once it's installed.

this

It's such a pain in the ass

ubuntu

>he doesn't think C++ is cancer

not since like 2015 idiot
you can have it
in exactly the same way
who cares if it's compiling all day? you don't have to compile the code by hand, it just happens in the background while you work
doesn't matter at all. portage is only slow because its structure, not it's language. it'd only speed up by some negligible constant factor by moving to C.
thinkpad x220 compiles an almost vanilla kernel in about 40 minutes. ryzen 1700 does the same in about 1.5 minutes
it can be, it just isn't convenient because of USE flags. They can't realistically build different packages for every possible combination and permutation of USE flags and build environments, and choosing a default would making using Gentoo useless.
it's not that complicated at all

>it just happens in the background while you work

unless you're in a pinch and find that you need some software right away. Too bad, gotta compile for hours.

At the very least you gotta have a vm with debian or something handy so you can install software quickly when you need it.

But chromeOS is very popular OP. It is over if the best distros

why don't you already have it installed if you need it then?
in all honesty I keep an archlinux lxc around that I start whenever I need some temporary bullshit program or something that isn't trustworthy and then I btrfs snapshot it back to clean when I'm done but really it isn't necessary if you already have something installed. how many applications do you actually use?
you can use the old version while the new compiles if you're asking about updates
chromeos is not gentoo. gentoo is a metadistribution that happens to be used to create chromeos

It's just a huge pain the ass. Things just randomly break and you have no idea why; you'll spend all weekend trying to figure it out.

Random little things, like for some reason portage recompiled urxvt without xft support, or plank's transparency broke for some reason while you were in the middle of emerging a desktop, or some perl upgrade is causing a dependency conflict and you have to go through and nuke perl from your system

A bunch of little shit that takes a lot of time to fix and you don't really learn anything useful from. The "skills" you learn fixing gentoo are gentoo-specific; they're not applicable anywhere else. Unless you count "googling for the answer" a skill

what's the alternative?

Windows if you want to get actual work done. Any flavor of Ubuntu otherwise. I use MATE for general purpose browsing. Windows for work.

opinion completely discarded
windows is useless

ubuntu is also really bloated by default and the only way around it is to do a minimal install, which leaves you having just as much work to do getting it up and running the way you want as you would with gentoo (minus compile time), but using ubuntu requires you to fall for the ppa meme of trusting random idiots on the internet to package software for you without any security whatsoever

>bloat
I hate this Sup Forums meme. Having convenient features is always branded as "bloat".

I'm all for convenient features, but only when I will actually use them. I don't need all the shit that comes with a regular ubuntu install

I don't know, literally any other reputable distro?

>Windows
>work
That's a good one. Piece of shit OS just gets in the way. The only people who still even defend it are gayming neckbeards. Even normies hate it now.

give an example of a "reputable distro"

Here's another example: Trying to install the Calligra suite, I get:

>>> Failed to emerge gnome-extra/libgsf-1.14.41-r1, Log file:

>>> '/var/tmp/portage/gnome-extra/libgsf-1.14.41-r1/temp/build.log'

* Messages for package gnome-extra/libgsf-1.14.41-r1:

* ERROR: gnome-extra/libgsf-1.14.41-r1::gentoo failed (configure phase):
* econf failed
*
* Call stack:
* ebuild.sh, line 115: Called src_configure
* environment, line 3000: Called gnome2_src_configure '--disable-static' '--with-bz2' '--enable-introspection' '--without-gdk-pixbuf'
* environment, line 2179: Called econf '--disable-gtk-doc' '--disable-maintainer-mode' '--disable-static' '--with-bz2' '--enable-introspection' '--without-gdk-pixbuf'
* phase-helpers.sh, line 665: Called __helpers_die 'econf failed'
* isolated-functions.sh, line 117: Called die
* The specific snippet of code:
* die "$@"


What the fuck am I supposed to make of that? How the hell do I go about troubleshooting this? Why does every little thing in gentoo break when you try to install anything?

How about every distro that doesn't do this shit?

upload the whole build.log

also, give one example of a good distro

>it's another "user shits on everything that isn't windows or his favorite distro" episode
fuck off

>>Windows
>>work
>That's a good one. Piece of shit OS just gets in the way. The only people who still even defend it are gayming neckbeards. Even normies hate it now.

Yes. Windows for work. You're completely right in saying windows is a garbage heap of an OS. Telemetry aside, the OS itself is a convoluted orgy of old meets new to try and preserve some semblance of backwards compatibility. But it is still the only OS on the market that has professional hardware, drivers, and software made for it. You don't see people using any flavor of Linux for CAD software. Or music editing/creation. Or video and photo editing. Those and the "gaymers" are what create the demand for such utilities on windows.

If Linux got their hands on a Linux native Adobe suite, more people would be inclined to switch, guaranteed. But that's not the case. So that leaves what? Apple and their walled garden of an OS on their $5,000+ "professional" trash cans to get shit done?

Exactly what point are you trying to make though? Everyone knows that Windows has a monopoly and that Apple is too niche to be a real competitor. That doesn't stop Windows from being a shit platform.

>adobe suite
you all have it so so so so SO wrong
fuck the adobe suite and fuck all this proprietary megacorp jewish bullshit

put money into gimp/krita/calligra/kdenlive instead

>krita
this. it's pretty amazing for open-source software

>gimp
Fuck outta here with that. It's useful, but too counter-intuitive to catch on with normies. No matter how much money you put into it, nothing short of a complete redesign will save it.

they're working on a redesign for 3.10 afaik

>name a single reason why gentoo isn't the best linux distro
Because I'm not using it.

>You don't see people using any flavor of Linux for CAD software. Or music editing/creation. Or video and photo editing. Those and the "gaymers" are what create the demand for such utilities on windows.
Not everybody's work involves multimedia and gaming believe it or not. I will never understand why people will not let go of the fact that they can't use Photoshop on Linux despite the fact they probably don't need professional grade image editing software.
Not happening.

>multimedia
yeah what's with this phenomenon where every windfag on Sup Forums thinks they're a professional graphical designer or music composer? At best they just use photoshop to make shitty memes and other programs to make garage band-tier junk

Ah right. VM and Server work is done on Linux. The same of which can be done faster and easier on Windows Server OS. Speaking of which, Linux still has no viable alternative to Active Directory.

Linux has it's uses, but you're delusional if you think it's on equal footing as windows when it comes to usability and user friendliness.

FreeIPA or even just LDAP, how about that?
And you're delusional if you think vm/server work is easier and faster on windows lol

>VM and Server
>faster on Windows

I never said that it was user-friendly or even usable, I'm just saying that not having professional software for every niche user shouldn't be considered a dealbreaker for everybody. Also
>faster and easier on Windows Server OS
I'm no sys admin but I feel like this is horribly misinformed, or at the very least oversimplified.

By faster and easier I meant the speed with which a file share, shared device (I.e. printer), could be set up. This speed comes from the fact that windows is very GUI oriented while Linux relies more on the terminal. For instance a file share on windows is as simple as right clicking the folder, select share. Select who can connect and with what permissions. And you're done. Same with printers. Click, click, done.

On Linux, samba is usually the most popular sharing method. Which requires making accounts within samba, naming and setting up a share, naming the permissions, etc, all that needs doing from a terminal or console. You can do the above on Linux as well. Use your file manager to set up a share, but at that point you're just copying the windows method.

And while you're right that not everyone needs professional software, these are normies remember. These same normies have i7 based laptops to browse Facebook. And $800 smartphones to do the same. They're not going to want to hear that there is a 2nd best alternative.

I have both Linux and windows clients/servers on my network. I've worked with both. And if you were to plop a normie down or even a kid with a 2 year degree in network admin in front of a Linux machine, they'd find it more difficult than windows. I only say Adobe and the like for Linux because that I feel is the only realistic way Linux could be popular in the mainstream. Make it so the OS has settled big name software to offer, and normies would be tempted. Otherwise, no way in hell. People hate change.

sure it's more difficult if you don't know what the fuck you're doing but it also gives you much more control
if you put me in front of a windows box and a gnu/linux box I could do a lot more with the second one and much faster too

True. I guess I'm just talking about the learning curve of first time users on Linux boxes. Normies just want shit to work and don't like to tinker. Linux needs to come a ways before and Joe schmoe can pick it up and run with it just for general use. Let alone running a server.

people wants to use their computers to get the job done.

i think the main problem is that when shit is easy and point and click, you lose a lot of flexibility because nobody wants to see a permissions page with one trillion checkboxes and dropdowns to choose from. even with a gui that's unusable.
most people that know how flexibly gnu/linux is probably don't mind the cli because of how much more you can do

>I only say Adobe and the like for Linux because that I feel is the only realistic way Linux could be popular in the mainstream
Linux will be popular the day that it's shipped by default on modern computers, which is never. I really don't see Microsoft ever losing the desktop market until the company itself implodes.

CUPS has a retard proof configuration.

Its way easier than Windows you don't have to fuck around with installers and drivers.

Yeah. That's a good reason. I like gentoo very much, but takes too damn long to install programs.

>retard proof
-CUPS prefer PostScript printers.
-Host-based printers can't work directly with CUPS unless you do some configuration.
-Retards buy host-based printers anyway because "it was cheap".
-They end complaining they don't work on loonix.

this
I mess around with gentoo from time to time, but it is NOT for getting work done. It is literally the timesink OS. It makes Arch look easy. The only people who should use it are people who just have a hobby for trying different operating systems, and even then they shouldn't use it as their daily driver.

Networked printers are literally point and click with CUPS. On Windows 10 its a nightmare, custom everything for every different printer.

>literally point and click with CUPS
Again, only if the printer supports PostScript or if the system has the software to RIP the document and convert it to the printer's native language.
Try to setup a 2017 printer.
>hard mode: not an HP.

Actually I eventually just gave up and used the printer's built in webui to print shit from Windows because it was literally too hard.

lol

I got a Brother and it works great

meanwhile on my windows desktop
>install hp universal ps driver
>plug the printer
>it f*cking works

>brother
how does it feel having to replace imaging drums every 8000 pages?

>plug the printer

wonder who this could be

I work with xerox printers at work and they need drum replacements about that often anyway
doesn't really bother me

Windowmaker is an excellent wm

This, python is cancer along with all non C languages. Gentoo is a meme that only newfags use.

can gentoo use AUR?

and I thought Xerox used a toner+drum cartridge like the HPs.

>muh C
>muh bloat
>muh kiss principal
Not an argument

>not since like 2015 idiot
still not by default

Ok. So you don't bother about simplicity, etc. Now tell us, why does gentoo have no installer? Hell, it doesn't even have a helper script like arch-chroot.

It does have an installer its just isn't maintained because nobody used it so support was dropped.

It's an inferiour FreeBSD