Of course, if you use a source-based distribution, it's easy, but that's not the point. If you download the source and build it yourself, you'll have to learn a bit about how they manage the build environment. You'll have to handle being sure all the dependencies are installed. You'll have to figure out any configuration options.
That's exactly what people who make distributions do. If you want to see how complicated the build is for any piece of software, just look at how complicated the build scripts a
Unfortunately, like too many OSS projects, Mozilla seems to think it will have the only cygwin instance on my system. It therefore assumes it's OK for me to just reconfigure the entire universe according to its preferences, redefine all my paths so the MozillaBuild version of everything takes precedence over anything else that's already installed, and so on.
In reality, I have various other tools installed that bridge the Windows and Linux worlds, including things fundamental to using various version control
I use Gentoo too. Most things compile in minutes. Some things such as browsers can take hours. Big Desktop environments like KDE/Gnome and also LibreOffice can take over a day each. Some people can't imagine how a Gentoo user can stand it. It's really not a problem though.
The build process never prompts you for anything, all options are chosen before it starts. It also does not require a GUI. (There are GUIs available if you want one) It's just pretty simple commands like (emerge chromium). Emerge handle
Of course, if you use a source-based distribution, it's easy, but that's not the point. If you download the source and build it yourself, you'll have to learn a bit about how they manage the build environment. You'll have to handle being sure all the dependencies are installed. You'll have to figure out any configuration options.
That's exactly what people who make distributions do. If you want to see how complicated the build is for any piece of software, just look at how complicated the build scripts a
There are some really great distros that are based on said sources:
Pale Moon is an open source alternative to FireFox:
http://www.palemoon.org/ [palemoon.org]
SRWare Iron is a Chromium project:
http://www.srware.net/en/softw... [srware.net]
Idiosyncratic builds is not limited to just browsers and is probably the biggest problem faced by Open Source projects today.
I use open source tools daily and yet with 20 years development experience I have yet to fine one open source project that straightforward to build.
Unfortunately, like too many OSS projects, Mozilla seems to think it will have the only cygwin instance on my system. It therefore assumes it's OK for me to just reconfigure the entire universe according to its preferences, redefine all my paths so the MozillaBuild version of everything takes precedence over anything else that's already installed, and so on.
In reality, I have various other tools installed that bridge the Windows and Linux worlds, including things fundamental to using various version control
I use Gentoo too. Most things compile in minutes. Some things such as browsers can take hours. Big Desktop environments like KDE/Gnome and also LibreOffice can take over a day each. Some people can't imagine how a Gentoo user can stand it. It's really not a problem though.
The build process never prompts you for anything, all options are chosen before it starts. It also does not require a GUI. (There are GUIs available if you want one) It's just pretty simple commands like (emerge chromium). Emerge handle