LWN: Comments on "Gentoo Linux on AMD64"

Gentoo Linux on AMD64

jhuebel — 2005-01-16T21:52:24+00:00

Thank you for a fair and informational article. As the Strategic Lead Developer of the Gentoo/amd64, I'm always interested in finding out the real-world experiences of our users.

I'll be sending an email to all the amd64 developers so they will see this article. Feedback is always appreciated (even critical feedback). With more thoughtful criticism such as this, I'm sure Gentoo/amd64 will continue to grow, mature and provide a great platform for Linux enthusiasts, high-end workstation users and SMP-servers.

For those users who do take the plunge into 64-bit bliss, here are some useful links to information and support on the Gentoo/amd64 port.

Gentoo/amd64 Technotes: http://amd64.gentoo.org/technotes.xml
Gentoo/amd64 IRC Channel: #gentoo-amd64 on irc.freenode.net
Gentoo/amd64 Forum: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewforum.php?f=46
Gentoo/amd64 Mailing List: gentoo-amd64-subscribe@gentoo.org

In particular, we encourage users to visit the IRC channel. There are always AMD64 developers in the channel ready to help you with any issues you may experience. Our development team in particular prides itself on being friendly, helpful and active with the user community.

Compile times, swapping

ringerc — 2004-12-26T20:31:54+00:00

I'm _very_ susprised you only saw a 40 minute compile time on a 1.4GHz P4. The 1.4GHz P4 was an astonishingly gutless CPU, and it's more than a little elderly too. Are you sure you don't mean the 1.4GHz Pentium M ("Mobile Pentium" - NOT the Pentium 4 or Pentium 4 Mobile, which are very different CPUs)? That would make a lot more sense.

Also, Linux will generally touch the swap even if you have obscene amounts of RAM. There have been endless arguments about the merits of that, arguments I don't care to repeat here. Nonetheless, I'd argue that light swapping in Linux does not actually suggest memory pressure, only the VM making room for a potential surge in activity later. Upgrading the RAM is probably nuking a fly, though the extra RAM will serve as absolutely fantastic disk cache.

Other than those little issues, thanks for the interesting review. I'm still steering well clear of Gentoo, but perhaps in a while...

Installer

dberkholz — 2004-12-20T02:11:43+00:00

"While this attitude is understandable, even commendable, those of us who frequently install various distributions for testing purposes or for large-scale deployment would certainly welcome a more automated installation procedure."

See http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/installer/ -- it's a WIP. You can find real-time collaboration on the Freenode IRC network at #gentoo-installer, for any Python gurus interested in helping out. We're not in need of testers at this point, however, just coders.