> I have a system running Debian. I would like to also install Gentoo on
> this system and have a dual boot. My question is, how do I have to
> organize my partitions to do so?
>
> I have an 80Gb drive and currently the partition manager (fdisk)
> reports the following:
>
> Device Boot Start End Blocks ID
> System
> /dev/hda1 * 1 851 6835626
> 83 Linux
> /dev/hda2 852 10011 73577700 f
> W95 Ext'd (LBA) >> what the hell is this? I never had windows on
> this disk
> /dev/hda5 852 9949 73079653+ 83 Linux
> /dev/hda6 9950 10011 497983+ 82
> Linux Swap
>
> Could you please tell me what new partitions I have to create/what
> paritions to resize to accomodate Gentoo?
Depending on your existing partitions, you need to create a new root
partition for Gentoo. As for size, I use a 6gb / and currently it's like
this:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda3 5858924 3634000 2224924 63% /
When compiling apps the usage can increase a fair amount, but it then
shinks. If you're just trying out Gentoo, go for a 10gb partition on
root to be safe.
Also, when doing the install, try a stage 3 install at first. Stage 1
will take a long time and can piss you off if you've not the time or
patience.
Gentoo is IMHO the logical step up from Debian. Debian is a fantastic
distro with excellent package management, I used it for some time.
Gentoo, however, takes it to the next level and injects it with
steroids. the flexibility of portage to tune your apps how you want them
is a breath of fresh air. For example, if I want to install postfix,
first I search for the package:
*** START OUTPUT ***
shuttle root # emerge search postfix
Searching...
[ Results for search key : postfix ]
[ Applications found : 2 ]
* mail-mta/postfix
Latest version available: 2.1.3
Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]
Size of downloaded files: 2,493 kB
Homepage: http://www.postfix.org/
Description: A fast and secure drop-in replacement for sendmail.
License: IPL-1
* sec-policy/selinux-postfix
Latest version available: 20040427
Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]
Size of downloaded files: 3 kB
Homepage: http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/hardened/selinux/
Description: SELinux policy for postfix
License: GPL-2
*** END OUTPUT ***
Ooooh, there's an SELinux build too! Let's have a look at the options
for building vanilla postfix:
*** START OUTPUT ***
shuttle root # emerge -pv postfix
These are the packages that I would merge, in order:
Calculating dependencies ...done!
[blocks B ] mail-mta/ssmtp ("virtual/mta" from pkg
mail-mta/postfix-2.1.3)
[ebuild N ] mail-mta/postfix-2.1.3 -ipv6 +ldap -mailwrapper -mbox
+mysql +pam -postgres -sasl +ssl -vda 2,493 kB
Total size of downloads: 2,493 kB
*** END OUTPUT ***
So postfix will be compiled with support for everything with a '+' in
front and those with the minus will be omitted. But should we want
postgres support, no ldap and no mysql support, then simply doing:
USE="postgres -ldap -mysql" emerge postfix
...will sot this all out. With dependencies sorted too.
Now *this* is a cool distro!
Step into the light, Keith!
Iain.
