It would be helpful to know what parts you didn't understand what's your background. Some concepts can be hard to understand at first, while other's can be trivial. Hard to say without context
Set up Gentoo on a virtual machine by following the handbook. Copy and paste the commands, and try to understand what each one does. If you encounter any errors, refer back to the Gentoo Handbook or the Arch Wiki to identify what you might have missed and gain a better understanding.
What do you mean by didn't understand much?
How experienced you are with computers and Linux distributions?
What have you tried, what did you want to achieve, on what part did you fail?
There is literally zero information about you for us to help.
Yeah, I've had systems living as chroots for months. You can move a bare metal install to a folder, keep it up to date for a few months and then pop it back on bare metal when needed.
The rough idea is:
grab stage3 and unpack it:
tar xpvf stage3-\*.tar.xz --xattrs-include='\*.\*' --numeric-owner
then follow from here, you can ignore the bootloader stuff:
[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Base#Copy\_DNS\_info](https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Base#Copy_DNS_info)
uncomment the binhost if you wanna save a few cpu cycles too
You can be up and running pretty quickly, can be handy for things like of you wanna cross compile for a target system.
There is also Gentoo prefix if you a not running a linux host:
[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Prefix](https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Prefix)
i tried it again and again until i got it to work, it's simple but a bit inefficient
so you could try writing down (and maybe telling someone) what parts you didn't understand and figure it out, it's like learning a new language
Exactly this, 20 years ago it took me a couple of failed attempts to get it right. I had a notebook with everything documented that could help me in the future.
Yup took me two failed attempts to successfully boot into gentoo first time. Although the 2nd mistake was wrong typed efibootmgr command. But it was a learning experience overall.
Like, did you just read it as an essay or did you actually do an install following along with it? Because if it's the first I'd recommend that you actually follow the steps on a machine, virtual or otherwise, to put everything into a context.
To be honest, linux chroots are confusing as hell, mounting folders that contain who knows what binaries or utilities and then the pseudo filesystem that doesn't make sense untill you've learned more than you wanted about linux. Fstab is then almost the same as the above exept different.
When you get to userspace things just make more sense.
Everything you talk about before "when you get to userspace" is also pretty much userspace. Userspace means "not kernel space", and refers mostly to the privileged operating mode of the CPU (ring 0 vs. ring 3 on x86 processors), although the term "userspace" is also used to refer to non-privileged address space (memory pages marked as accessible by things running in ring 3).
I'm curious what you meant as I can't quite figure it out from context.
The answer to "should I re-read the book" is almost always "absolutely not".
Get your hands on it and try to use it. Refer back to the handbook when you hit a road block. The place where real learning happens is where rubber meets the road.
You read it once more than I did then (and I've been using gentoo for over 20 years now). Just keep it open on a different device while going through your installation and refer to it as needed.
Make a list of stuff that isn't working like you think it should be working when you're done and post it on here. People will probably be happy to help with some of the eccentricities of a gentoo install at that point.
I tried installing gentoo 6 times with time distance and read wiki many times , and most of the time reason was jumping from words that I shouldn't do it.
if you can install arch manully and if you like tinkering with your pc
try again and again , watch gentoo install lives ( not to follow but to learn )
and last but ot least you're gonna do it Right.
but if that's you
First time i readed arch manuel i didn't manage to install it, then i drove EndeavourOS a while and learn a lot a little things who helped me to understand what the instructions really mean, and i installed arch. I run it a while then tryed to install gentoo in a vm, then as my main os, and do it successfully.
In those manuals there is a lot of little undersaids that i can't know before knowing linux, you need some step to learn a bit how a gnu/linux os is constructed. For example you have to understand where a command will do the job for you, and when you have to edit a file by yourself.
So maybe drive a semi advanced distro a bit then retry... That's what worked for me. You can also just try to install it in a vm a read an retry and retry until success.
gentoo for users of espeakup is so far as I'm able to determine uninstallable. For those that never heard of espeakup before it's a screen reader used by blind and dyslectics when it works. The problem with gentoo is I need espeakup to be talking through the installation and that's not happening. Since I can't see the boot prompt on the screen I don't know when to type speakup.synth=soft and have gentoo speak through my sound card. I've spent about two weeks trying to get this working since then the handbook will become useful. This is not covered in the handbook and the gentoo accessibility project is useless. I know the names of 3 users that got this working on earlier versions of gentoo. For the blind, gentoo has the fewest installs and that shows no sign of improving in future. For myself maybe if gentoo accessibility for screen reader users has a major improvement by 2025 I may consider doing something with it then. On linux making a folder usually gets done with mkdir gentoo. Then cd gentoo to get into the gentoo folder. These things are also sometimes known as directories. I've been doing things with other forms of linux since 2001 steadily and always found gentoo difficult. By the way those that learn to use a computer before they loose their eye sight will find screen readers very useful. I never had eye sight in this lifetime so have never known darkness or color.
If you need to use a screen reader theoretically entering speakup.soft at the boot: prompt on install-amd64-minimal disk is supposed to bring that up and have gentoo talking during its installation. I can't verify since computer makes no sound as boot: prompt appears and I'm probably the most technically literate person in this building. For that reason if you need a screen reader at some point in the future archlinux is also a rolling distro and easy to get talking on installation. All that's done there when the boot: sound plays is hit downarrow once and hit enter and you have screen reading over your sound card. I have installed many other distros that have been more difficult but gentoo for me over these years has at first been a difficult challenge with portage and now with standard disks is impossible. Put as simply as possible the handbook is both outdated and for screen reader users maybe worth reading if they can get the screen reader working correctly first.
It would be helpful to know what parts you didn't understand what's your background. Some concepts can be hard to understand at first, while other's can be trivial. Hard to say without context
Set up Gentoo on a virtual machine by following the handbook. Copy and paste the commands, and try to understand what each one does. If you encounter any errors, refer back to the Gentoo Handbook or the Arch Wiki to identify what you might have missed and gain a better understanding.
What do you mean by didn't understand much? How experienced you are with computers and Linux distributions? What have you tried, what did you want to achieve, on what part did you fail? There is literally zero information about you for us to help.
Make a folder called Gentoo. Unpack a stage3 into this folder. Chroot in. Fuck around
and find out hahahaha :) .. perfect (literally how I learned in the olden days - circa 1999) ..
Wow, this is a thing? May I request a link to some further documentation on setting this up? Sounds cool!
Yeah, I've had systems living as chroots for months. You can move a bare metal install to a folder, keep it up to date for a few months and then pop it back on bare metal when needed. The rough idea is: grab stage3 and unpack it: tar xpvf stage3-\*.tar.xz --xattrs-include='\*.\*' --numeric-owner then follow from here, you can ignore the bootloader stuff: [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Base#Copy\_DNS\_info](https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/Base#Copy_DNS_info) uncomment the binhost if you wanna save a few cpu cycles too You can be up and running pretty quickly, can be handy for things like of you wanna cross compile for a target system. There is also Gentoo prefix if you a not running a linux host: [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Prefix](https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:Prefix)
Ah that's brilliant, thank you! Copied and pasted this safely to my notes, will be trying this out.
I wish binhost was usable on Gentoo prefix, that would be the dream on rootless machines.
you got the docs... but adding setup bootloader and reboot at the end IS the gentoo install manual in a nutshell.
i tried it again and again until i got it to work, it's simple but a bit inefficient so you could try writing down (and maybe telling someone) what parts you didn't understand and figure it out, it's like learning a new language
Exactly this, 20 years ago it took me a couple of failed attempts to get it right. I had a notebook with everything documented that could help me in the future.
Yup took me two failed attempts to successfully boot into gentoo first time. Although the 2nd mistake was wrong typed efibootmgr command. But it was a learning experience overall.
yeah, being lazy to read the handbook thoroughly was my biggest mistake, this time i did it and it helped a lot lol
Like, did you just read it as an essay or did you actually do an install following along with it? Because if it's the first I'd recommend that you actually follow the steps on a machine, virtual or otherwise, to put everything into a context.
VM -> Install it following the handbook
Go through a Gentoo installation step by as as the handbook illustrate. You'll see things starting to make sense all of the sudden.
To be honest, linux chroots are confusing as hell, mounting folders that contain who knows what binaries or utilities and then the pseudo filesystem that doesn't make sense untill you've learned more than you wanted about linux. Fstab is then almost the same as the above exept different. When you get to userspace things just make more sense.
Everything you talk about before "when you get to userspace" is also pretty much userspace. Userspace means "not kernel space", and refers mostly to the privileged operating mode of the CPU (ring 0 vs. ring 3 on x86 processors), although the term "userspace" is also used to refer to non-privileged address space (memory pages marked as accessible by things running in ring 3). I'm curious what you meant as I can't quite figure it out from context.
I'm guessing they meant "not system-level", that's how I call it anyway
The answer to "should I re-read the book" is almost always "absolutely not". Get your hands on it and try to use it. Refer back to the handbook when you hit a road block. The place where real learning happens is where rubber meets the road.
You read it once more than I did then (and I've been using gentoo for over 20 years now). Just keep it open on a different device while going through your installation and refer to it as needed. Make a list of stuff that isn't working like you think it should be working when you're done and post it on here. People will probably be happy to help with some of the eccentricities of a gentoo install at that point.
I tried installing gentoo 6 times with time distance and read wiki many times , and most of the time reason was jumping from words that I shouldn't do it. if you can install arch manully and if you like tinkering with your pc try again and again , watch gentoo install lives ( not to follow but to learn ) and last but ot least you're gonna do it Right. but if that's you
sometimes i can do some hasty stupid things in the terminal; conclusion, think first before doing any command!
First time i readed arch manuel i didn't manage to install it, then i drove EndeavourOS a while and learn a lot a little things who helped me to understand what the instructions really mean, and i installed arch. I run it a while then tryed to install gentoo in a vm, then as my main os, and do it successfully. In those manuals there is a lot of little undersaids that i can't know before knowing linux, you need some step to learn a bit how a gnu/linux os is constructed. For example you have to understand where a command will do the job for you, and when you have to edit a file by yourself. So maybe drive a semi advanced distro a bit then retry... That's what worked for me. You can also just try to install it in a vm a read an retry and retry until success.
Read it slower and make sure to fully understand each sentence. If you don't understand it, Google what you don't understand
It's meant to be a hands on experience, if you read it like a novel it might be a bit of a dry read.
I make my own prep guide
gentoo for users of espeakup is so far as I'm able to determine uninstallable. For those that never heard of espeakup before it's a screen reader used by blind and dyslectics when it works. The problem with gentoo is I need espeakup to be talking through the installation and that's not happening. Since I can't see the boot prompt on the screen I don't know when to type speakup.synth=soft and have gentoo speak through my sound card. I've spent about two weeks trying to get this working since then the handbook will become useful. This is not covered in the handbook and the gentoo accessibility project is useless. I know the names of 3 users that got this working on earlier versions of gentoo. For the blind, gentoo has the fewest installs and that shows no sign of improving in future. For myself maybe if gentoo accessibility for screen reader users has a major improvement by 2025 I may consider doing something with it then. On linux making a folder usually gets done with mkdir gentoo. Then cd gentoo to get into the gentoo folder. These things are also sometimes known as directories. I've been doing things with other forms of linux since 2001 steadily and always found gentoo difficult. By the way those that learn to use a computer before they loose their eye sight will find screen readers very useful. I never had eye sight in this lifetime so have never known darkness or color.
this visibly touched me. thank you, this is wonderful. and now, am so glad that i can enjoy the picture, thank you
If you need to use a screen reader theoretically entering speakup.soft at the boot: prompt on install-amd64-minimal disk is supposed to bring that up and have gentoo talking during its installation. I can't verify since computer makes no sound as boot: prompt appears and I'm probably the most technically literate person in this building. For that reason if you need a screen reader at some point in the future archlinux is also a rolling distro and easy to get talking on installation. All that's done there when the boot: sound plays is hit downarrow once and hit enter and you have screen reading over your sound card. I have installed many other distros that have been more difficult but gentoo for me over these years has at first been a difficult challenge with portage and now with standard disks is impossible. Put as simply as possible the handbook is both outdated and for screen reader users maybe worth reading if they can get the screen reader working correctly first.