COMP 3000 2011 Report: Funtoo Linux

Background

Funtoo Linux is a distribution that aims to improve the core technologies of Gentoo. It is a source-based distribution which features a git-based Portage tree, GPT/GUID boot support, enhanced network configuration and native UTF-8 support. <ref>http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=funtoo, </ref> It is targeted at experienced Linux users and is extremely configurable, sometimes even referred to as a meta-distribution. It is also very fast. <ref>http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml</ref>

Funtoo Linux is very close to Gentoo therefore I will consider them being the same. However, if I am writing about a Funtoo Linux specific feature, I will clearly state it.

Funtoo Linux can be obtained through the Funtoo Wiki, or it can be forked from Github:

Funtoo Linux Download Page	http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Download
Funtoo Linux Github	https://github.com/Funtoo

Because Funtoo Linux is a meta-distribution, it is hard to say what size it is. That said, the core system is 110M.

One of the features of Funtoo Linux is that it allows GUID partition tables. The main advantage of the GPT partitioning scheme is that it supports partitions greater than 2TiB, which is the size limit of the standard MBR partitioning scheme. This is essential for systems using RAID logical volumes, as it is easy to exceed the partition size limit imposed by MBR. <ref>http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/GUID_Booting_Guide</ref>

Installation

Installing Funtoo Linux is a manual process. It does not have an automated installer because it is not needed. You can actually install Funtoo Linux while being booted in you current OS, provided you have the tools (ex. fdisk, git).

Overview <ref>http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Funtoo_Linux_Installation</ref>

1. Boot in an arbitrary Linux system (Live CD or otherwise).
2. Prepare the disk where Funtoo Linux will be installed.
3. Install the Funtoo stage tarball of your choice.
4. Chroot into the new Funtoo Linux system.
5. Pull the Portage tree repository.
6. Customize the system configuration.
7. Install a kernel.
8. Install a bootloader.
9. Setup users and boot-time services.
10. Reboot.

To perform a Funtoo install, you must use an existing Linux system or a live CD. Unlike Gentoo, Funtoo Linux does not have a dedicated live CD. That is because its Metro build tool does not support live CD builds yet. Instead, it recommends the use of SystemRescueCD, a Linux system rescue disk, because it comes with all the software you need for the installation. For my installation, I used SystemRescueCD. I would have used my Linux machine but I could not find a way to use fdisk with VHD's. After booting in the Linux system of your choice, you must first prepare the disk that Funtoo will be installed on. This is the preferred way of partitioning your disk for a Linux system. That said, I had to use MBR partitioning because VirtualBox's BIOS does not support booting from GPT disks. <ref>https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23279</ref> No big deal: I am not planning on using a > 2TiB disk for my virtual machine. I installed from a stage3 tarball, because I am not crazy enough to start from stage1. Stage3 is the recommended one to use anyway. To install from a stage3 tarball, you first download the stage tarball and then you extract its contents in the Funtoo Linux's root partition. That's it. Now that all the core Funtoo Linux programs are installed, you switch to the Funtoo Linux system by [1] into it. Neat.

History

Funtoo's history is closely tied to that of Gentoo. Daniel Robbins was the project creator, chief architect and project leader of the Gentoo development team until April 26, 2004, where he had to leave because of personal issues. <ref>http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.nfp/65</ref> Before leaving, Daniel created a non-profit foundation, Gentoo Technologies, which would hold all of the Gentoo copyrights. <ref>http://linux.sys-con.com/node/44614,Founder of Gentoo Linux, Daniel Robbins, Resigns as Chief Architect.</ref>

Here's Daniel Robbins letter of resignation: <ref>http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.nfp/73, Daniel Robbins' resignation post.</ref>

From: Daniel Robbins <drobbins@...>
Subject: Resigning from development role
Newsgroups: gmane.linux.gentoo.nfp
Date: 2004-04-26 17:48:49 GMT

Hi All,

As of today, I am resigning from my development responsibilities for Gentoo.
This includes my role as Chief Architect and as manager of release
engineering. I am not appointing a replacement Chief Architect. For releng,
Zhen is doing an excellent job leading this effort and I would like him to
be able to continue his work in this area.

Regards,

Daniel

Terms

Source-based distribution

A source-based distribution is a distribution that all of the packages are downloaded as source and compiled, as opposed to downloading a precompiled binary. <ref>https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Compared_to_Other_Distributions#Source-based</ref>

Advantages of source-based distributions (ex. Gentoo, Funtoo)

• Packages are optimized for your hardware.
• You can exclude unwanted features from packages in order to minimize dependencies and reduce the binary size. For example, if your system uses Gnome, in most cases you will never need the KDE component of a package. In Funtoo/Gentoo, you are able to do this via 'use' flags.
• Improved security: You can actually inspect the source of the package instead of trusting that the binary your distribution provides is not malicious.

Advantages of binary-based distributions (ex. Debian, Fedora)

• Much faster to install large programs such as Firefox.
• More user-friendly, since the user does not have to deal with compilation issues.

Stage tarballs

A stage tarball is a precompiled system used as a starting point to a Funtoo/Gentoo Linux install. Typically, you would use a stage3 tarball to do a Funtoo/Gentoo Linux installation but some people may want to do a stage1 installation. This means that they would have to compile all the core tools (udev, portage, etc.) first. <ref>http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Funtoo_Linux_Installation#Installing_the_Stage_3_tarball</ref>

References

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