On Fri, Oct 03, 2003 at 11:32:18AM +0100, Philip Hazel wrote:
> On Thu, 2 Oct 2003, Avleen Vig wrote:
> > Or better yet, use a package system that DOES allow you to compile the
> > software specifically for your machine and with your customizations and
> > still manages the installation correctly.
> > </BSD advocate>
>
> I have just discovered Gentoo Linux, which is a very "lean" Linux
> distribution that works this way. Not for the faint-hearted, however.
> You have to compile a kernel as part of the install.
Back when it was new I heard people that were switching argument for
it using words like 'performance' and 'optimized'. But when someone
researched the claims, they didn't find much of a gain:
http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=227&page=1
So the question is whether the extra efford needed to get any gains
whatsoever, up-weighs the efford you have to put into it and time
spent waiting for compilation. Personally, I think that it's a 'no'
for 99% of users.
Speaking in favour of precompiled packages, is the fact that I can get
the latest security updates installed with a single command. I'll
trade in a bit of performance and 'custom build' for that.
But, of course, it depends on one's needs. Like my friend who was
trying to squeeze as much Debian as possible on a 125Mb CF card.
--
Thomas
beast@???
