using portage exculsively for package management

[j0hnny]

Hi!

This is my first post, and I'm totally new to Gentoo/Sabayon.

I installed Sabayon last night and I've spend the afternoon reading up on Portage and Entropy...but Portage mostly. Although I'm aware that both managers are aware of each other, it seems like I should pick one to use, and use the other sparingly, if at all.

Here's the kind of stuff I'm thinking about:
- (I think) I'm going to use Portage exclusively for package management, as the impression I get is that compiled-from-source packages are going to be (at least a little bit) faster than regular binary packages.
- Right now, I've got a fresh install from the livecd. So I am running on all binary packages.
- If I use Portage to update world, emerge will get all the security updates, etc. as source and compile them. This leaves me with some packages compiled, and some (the ones without updates) as binaries (but Portage knows about compiled packages as well as binary packages, so it doesn't matter).

- As time goes on, more and more of the original binary packages will get updated, and therefore replaced by a compiled-from-source version.
- Eventually, my entire system will consist of packages that are compiled from source, just like a traditional Gentoo install, where absolutely everything is compiled.

Are these assumptions correct, or am I missing some detail about how this all works? And how much does the binary vs. source thing *really* matter for a general desktop user/web programmer like me?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Firstly, it's good to read that you are studying the documentation.

I recommend that you also read the following two threads to get a bit more insight into SL/Gentoo and the Portage/Entropy thing:

stable-testing..unstable?...what's the difference?

How does this work? [Solved]

You are on the right lines, although note that what you call "binaries" are of course programs compiled from source, the very same source that Portage uses. Basically the Entropy repository maintainers just do the compiling for you. The advantages and disadvantages of using Portage instead of Entropy are explained a little bit more in the above-mentioned threads.

[j0hnny]

Thanks! Those threads are really helpful. I think my main problem was the misconception that packages are somehow smaller or more performant just by virtue of being compiled locally; though surely there are cases where that is true, the reality of it is more complex.

For me, the biggest reasons for using Sabayon are the rolling release model, and the availibility of the newest packages.

So I guess I'll try digging around in the Portage/Entropy repos, and see who has the newest versions of the packages I really care about.

[ReemZ]

see who has the newest versions of the packages

Portage.

You see, Portage is maintained by Gentoo folk, while everything in Entropy is compiled by its maintainers from the source in Portage. It's possible that a newer version exists in Portage that hasn't been compiled by Entropy maintainers yet, so, in Entropy, an older version than the one in Portage may be found, or none at all.