All,

Jonathan Hutchins wrote:

  >So how about some advice and help for non-programmers/developers on doing
  >the custom compiles?  Maybe we should have a "Compile Fest" instead of an
  >Install Fest some time.
  >
I personally, think that this would be an EXCELLENT idea.  Most users
have been pampered with rpm's or debs or what have you, that they've
forgotten how to compile when they need to!  As far as custom compiling,
and speed...Gentoo Linux claims to be 'the fastest' Linux distirbution
out there - the ISO for it is only 16 Mb.  This is because the install
process can take hours to days, depending on your system.

Gentoo Linux takes all packages straight from source and compiles them
individually, optimized for your particular hardware!  It downloads the
sources it needs at the time, compiles them, then downloads more, etc...

This would be a neat project to try, I think, and would really help any
user get to know their system by the back of their hand.  (How many
times have you installed an RPM and wondered where it put the files?)

A full install of Gentoo might be a bit much for a 'Compile Fest', but I
really like the idea.  Maybe including compiling from SRPMS
too...(something I've never done, but would be another great way to
tweak a system / particular packages).

-Lucas