I've been messing around with Linux lately and stumbled into some deep rabbit holes. Compiling stuff from source feels so old-school, yet it's become this niche thing now. Arch's AUR is convenient, but sometimes you still hit dependency hell. Gentoo's all manual compile with high freedom, but the compile times make you question your life choices. Some say "the more pain, the more accomplishment," others just do it for the placebo effect of CLI satisfaction. What do you guys think? Is this "from scratch tinkering" lifestyle still worth sticking with?
Arch vs Gentoo? The joy and pitfalls of compiling from scratch.
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Thanks for sharing your experience with all those pitfalls! Compiling definitely gives you a deeper understanding of the system, but the time cost is a real pain. Do you now prefer using pre-compiled distros, or are you still into all that "tinkering"?
Well, personally I don't think you *have* to choose between Arch and Gentoo. Arch's AUR is convenient, but when you run into dependency issues, try checking the dependency tree with `yay` or `paru` using `-Si`, or just manually install packages to resolve conflicts. On the Gentoo side, compiling everything from scratch isn't impossible, but I'd recommend installing `distcc` to distribute the load, or just use the default `@system` installation and upgrade gradually—don't jump straight into a full manual compile.
At the end of the day, the fun of tweaking from scratch comes from the control you have over the system, but when you're actually using it, I'd suggest stabilizing the base environment first instead of wasting time on compilation. Arch's middle-ground approach is actually better for daily use + learning, while Gentoo is better for deep customization + performance tuning. Don't go through the "苦行" (ascetic practice) just for the sake of it.