[Onno Kreuzinger]

well i tried gentoo at a point i did build mosix clusters based on redhat on my job, and wanted to test the new 2.6 pre kernels with glibc 2.3 .i failed because i was reluctant to read for more that 2 evenings "just" to get a login from to box [i.e. beeing able to test the system and build a new 2.6 kernel].
for the docs, well when i tried i got pissed, because they explain from top to bottom, from adam and eve to the mars landing. all on one html page, i could not find the important stuff so i failed.

i know if i had invested 2 more days it might habve worked...

but i choose to clone my r.h. 7.3 and upgrade it to 9.0 beta, that worked in 45 mins :
use dd after booting from cd, change fstab to new hdX dev's, check boot loader, reboot using rh 9.0 cd and choose update, wait 25 mins, reboot, get new kernel, build with defaults -> done
dual system 7.3 and 9.0;glibc 2.2+2.4 kernel and glibc 2-3 and kernel 2.6

i know that the _fault_ was on my side, but the work out into it made me thing that using a FreeBSD would heve been better, it even has a better starting pint and a make world is more likely to build everything as expected. oh b.t.w. i just ran a 1.5 CS server on FreeBSD, lol 200mhz mmx are enough for 4 players.

cheers
and please do try gentoo, it has the right atitude, esp. for starters