How I got started with Gentoo

How I got started with Gentoo

I had tried using Linux before, namely Red Hat shortly after their initial IPO, but found its idiosyncrasies just too cumbersome to deal with. Obviously they were still working out some of the basic issues. I tried using a dual boot configuration, but found I almost never used Red Hat: it was still too far behind Windows in regards to what I used my desktop computer for, such as gaming and multimedia. That, and I found it extremely frustrating never knowing how to do anything in regards to changing my system configuration, installing software, and troubleshooting basic problems.

In spring of 2006 I participated in a company meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, where an IBM consultant by the name of John Elm made a presentation using his thinkpad laptop. At the end of the presentation I noticed that he had been running Windows in a window. I then asked him about the underlying operating system. This was my first exposure to Gentoo Linux (not to mention Virtualization).

Since I was also interested in running Windows in a window, I contacted John and he told me about VMWare server, that it was free, and that I could use it to virtualize Linux as a guest with Windows as the host operating system. Once I had figured out how the VMWare infrastructure was set up, I was off and running. I downloaded my first Gentoo minimal install CD in August of 2006, joined the Gentoo community, and never looked back. Today almost every piece of x86 hardware I own runs Gentoo, and any Linux systems at work are also blessed with Gentoo.

With the experience I have gained since first learning how to use Gentoo, I can honestly say the Gentoo road is the most challenging, yet most fulfilling, path to computing enlightenment. But, what is Gentoo Linux?