Linux distro with ports/package type system?

[Garrett Cooper]

vayu wrote:
>
> On May 15, 2006, at 2:15 AM, Nikolas Britton wrote:
>
>> I have an older 440MX based laptop that I'm fairly sure FreeBSD won't
>> like, I don't want to run windows on this box... so I'm looking for a
>> Linux distro that has a ports like system.
>>
>> I need KDE, X.org, and a 2.6 kernel installed by default... dammit...
>> I don't want to #$%! with Linux, maybe I'll give FreeBSD another try
>> first, anyways, thanks for the suggestions guys.
>>
>>
>
>
> I've heard that Gentoo's package management system "Portage" is 
> inspired by FreeBSDs ports, but I believe it's a bit of work to 
> install and compile a working system.
>
> I've been using Debian based Kubuntu on my laptop, and find the 
> package management excellent. The installation and maintenance is 
> easy.  It's my choice when I want to install and go.
That would be in fact Gentoo Linux.
It's the only Linux distro I know that has a collection of files which 
describe the packages to install, sources, etc like FreeBSD's ports 
makefiles (they call them ebuilds), and compiles programs based on a 
local distfiles repository, like FreeBSD. The thing that's different 
about Gentoo than most OSes though is that it is a Linux distro where 
EVERYTHING (unless you specify a location to find binary packages) 
compiles and installs from scratch. So I'm not sure if you want to go 
that route, and I'm not saying it's a perfect system by any means, but 
in the event that Windows breaks (or I get tired of Windows (;..) I 
always have something to go back to, Unix wise, that has a lot of 
software functionality and is pretty stable. The best piece of advice 
regarding Gentoo that I can give is don't go for the hype, but rather 
for the options (software options that is), because you have the ability 
to greater customize your OS-for better or for worse-depending on what 
compile options you choose and the software you install.
-Garrett