Over the past week I've been installing Gentoo on my workstation, faboo. I've probably done 10 Gentoo installs so far, and I'm still figuring new things out each time.

Things I learned this time:

• The genkernel utility does a poor job of configuring the kernel. Or at least, the default config files suck.
• The "Hot plugging" option in the kernel config menu actually does something, even if you don't check any of the options inside it. You have to turn it on to get hotplug kernel messages, which Gentoo uses to configure network interfaces, sound cards, etc.
• Beware of copying an XF86Config file from the old RedHat install to the new Gentoo install on the same box. You have to remove the font config paths and change the mouse device path or X won't start, or worse, lock up your console.
• Old stage1 images may have dependencies for bootstrapping that are too old. Bootstrapping last September's stage1 will cause a bunch of stuff to be unexpectedly merged, including Python. It's all stuff that would be merged during the system build though.
• Upgrading GRUB doesn't require a re-setup, oddly enough. This is because stage1 and stage1.5 which actually get embedded into the boot sectors use a "standard" entry vector into stage2, which stays on the filesystem and therefore is upgraded directly by emerge.
• Dot files in your home directory from GNOME 2.0 will seriously screw up GNOME 2.4.

So I'm back online now, for those wondering why I haven't been on Gale in a while. :-)