Gentoo is a Linux distribution praised for its customization potential. Most people on the internet say that it is better than other distributions for these (common) reasons:
- Gentoo is very customizable because of
USEflags which change compile-time options of packages in an easy to understand manner. - On Gentoo, you can compile your own kernel for maximum customization and performance.
- On Gentoo, packages are faster because you compiled them from source. (https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Benefits_of_Gentoo)
Number 1: USE flags
I would say USE flags on Gentoo is the main reason why I use Gentoo. USE flags allow you to change compile-time options for packages in an easy to understand manner, you can either put USE flags into /etc/portage/make.conf or in a file per-package inside /etc/portage/package.use/<packagename>.
For example, if you want to compile Emacs with mail support you can simply add this to /etc/portage/package.use/emacs:
app-editors/emacs mail
What if you wanted to remove Wayland support from your system entirely and only have support for Xorg? Add this to /etc/portage/make.conf as a global USE flag:
USE="X -wayland"
Do you want to remove telemetry from all packages which have this USE flag? Add this to /etc/portage/make.conf:
USE="-telemetry"
You get the idea, and now you see why USE flags are so important when it comes to talking about the reasons to use Gentoo.
Number 2: Kernel compilation
Some people online think that kernel compilation is exclusive to Gentoo. Nothing is further from the truth. You can compile your own kernel on every Linux distribution out there: Arch Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE… and the steps to compile your own kernel on distros other than Gentoo is very similar. This is not exclusive to Gentoo so cannot be used as a reason to use Gentoo.
Number 3: Packages are faster
While a lot of people think that packages are faster on Gentoo, nowadays with faster hardware the difference between portage-compiled packages and binary packages is negligible. You won’t even notice the speed difference (if there is one). That said, compiling packages lets you modify what is included in the packages, for example you can remove support for wifi if you are on a desktop PC, and for that, Gentoo uses USE flags. So we are back to Number 1.
Conclusion
I believe that Gentoo’s real benefit to other distributions lies in its customizability through the use of USE flags. No other distribution allows such fine-grained customization of packages, and this is why I currently use Gentoo. The other reasons, compiling your own kernel and packages being faster can either be accomplished on other distributions using much the same steps or the difference is negligible.