[filter996]

So I've narrowed it down to SuSu, Gentoo, Slackware, and possibly Mandriva. I'm starting to think no to Mandriva because of how commercial it is. What are the different distro's of Gentoo? The have the Universal download and the Package download. Thanks.

[jakec]

Hey filter996,

these are all the Different Gentoo builds since 2002, anything preceeding that would not be much use to you I reckon. Yes all Gentoo builds are bulit on using the same package management system (called Ebuild)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebuild

* 1.0, 2002 March 31
* 1.2, 2002 June
* 1.4 August 5, 2003 (GRP introduced)
* 1.4 maintenance release 1 September 11, 2003
* 2004.0 March 1, 2004 (versioning changed to four releases a year)
* 2004.1 April 28, 2004
* 2004.2 July 26, 2004
* 2004.3 November 15, 2004
* 2005.0 March 27, 2005 (versioning changed to semi-annual releases)
* 2005.1 August 8, 2005

you can find more on Gentoo here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentoo_Linux

Hope this Helps,

Jake

[jnev_89]

gentoo is itself a distro, it doesn't have it's own distro's...

[TheRecluse]

I vote Slackware.

[horndude]

gentoo has 3 basic starting points, 2 of which are a bit much for a newbie to attempt

Suse is fine, just accept it doesnt come with much, which means you will have some frustrations fixing that

Slackware is my choice or linux from scratch, but neither are good for somebody who cant figure things out on their own and doesnt have solid PC skills to begin with. A rookie can easily install and run slackware, but few even take the time to read the installl instructions available even as simple as they are at the slcakware website then promptly run into problems because they didnt do any research or learn anything before they jumped in. Linux is linux is linux, but w/o previous knowledge or experience some learning is definitely needed for most people..........it isnt windows.

[filter996]

I've installed Red Hat before. I just didn't like it cause it was so commercialized. Looks like the same thing is happening to Mandriva. I don't want something like that. I am actually quite well imersed in computers, but up until now I only have experience with the various installs of Windows. I have a pretty good working knowledge of OSX now, but now it's time for Linux. I have a very basic knowledge, but nothing too detailed. I want something with a little bit of a challenge to it cause it's the only way I will learn. Hence Gentoo, Suse, or Slackware. They are mainstream enough to be trusted and well-built so I won't get lost, but also less commercialized so it should be advanced enough to learn from.

I messed up when I said different distro's of Gentoo, I meant the different install packages. The two I am looking at are the Universal and Package installations and was wondering specifically what each one was.