Why do you use Gentoo

[duane]

I put arch on most of my machines almost a year ago, and it worked fine. Updating was fast, and if I wanted to try something new, it didn't take long to download. I particularly like the archiso package for making livecds.

Then I made the mistake of installing a gentoo chroot for a project. Now I'm putting gentoo back on everything again. It's obviously an addiction. :p

[spork_kitty]

It puts me in the driver's seat. I have a toolchain by default. Patches, ebuilds, it's all text files. The tooling for building a distro is pretty good. Packages tend to be good about providing USE flags.

Most importantly, I can fork at will or maintain an overlay, if Gentoo goes stupid, and I won't be left wondering where to go. I can carry on where Gentoo left off.

Few distros do that as well as Gentoo.

[mouacyk]

Considering the many cycles of CPU vulnerabilities, where executing malicious code can compromise data and the system, why don't more people use Gentoo?
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OCed24/7: 9900K5.0GHz//16GB4000MHzC16//1080Ti2.10GHz
OCed24/7: 1680v24.5GHz//32GB2333MHzC10//750Ti[GHz

[cornplayz256]

gentoo is very customizable for me and lets me have freedom to do whatever i want with the packages i install. it's also very nice for development and gaming.

[plp]

Because coming from NetBSD as my primary OS for 10 years.
I was tired of having to use Linux emulation to run certain applications and I didn’t want to learn how to use systemd. So 4 years ago I gave Slackware a spin stuck with it until recently.

I love the documentation, freedom of compiling locally instead of grabbing binaries, and the level control I have over the system.

I‘ve found the perfect OS for me.

[g047]

IDK, i tried most common distros, but Gentoo is the one I stick with. The easiness by which you can apply patches is super sweet, ebuilds are pretty easy to write too. The killer feature for me is having a stable system that still can use unstable packages without too much of a hassle.

But honestly idk, i just really like it as a system (except when there is a python upgrade lmao)

[spica]

afaik if an application (via ebuild installed) asks for root password, and this is unavoidable, then such application is scheduled for eviction from portage. this is good policy I think.

[NichtDerHans]

I really appreciate the hassle-free, wonderfully fluffy puffy Python updates.
























I installed it because I always thought Gentoo was cool, but never dared to. Then I realised that it works quite well and is stable. I now like Gentoo because of the configuration options, because I can switch things on and off via the USE flags. It is kept very simple.

EDIT: Aaaaaand of course, the community is very friendly. I was with Arch before and hated the forum, the chat and the whole toxic elite atmosphere.

[Taigo]

[FilthyPitDog]

I use Gentoo for the customizability, USE Flags and package slotting are key for me. Also the community is amazing!
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Gentoo is a way of life...

[rzdndr]

Hello All,

• Wanted a source based distro.
  
• Suits my needs. I am developing software.
  
• Community is very nice
  

Regards

[4man]

I just have too much time on my hands.
Also,

[NeglectedRudderPug]

It just works(tm).

It offers a very high level of convenience in terms of setup, allowing me to have it exactly as I want it and it never breaks since it is damn near unbreakable. (Seriously, I've done several things that should break it, but it just bounces back to life every time with just a few tweaks.)

Been using it as my daily for over a year now, honestly I just love this thing. Kind of wish I had switched many years ago, instead of putting up with all those other distros quirks, that with gentoo I can just change now.

Gentoo is my home now.