Gentoo Linux

Reader supplied reviews for Gentoo Linux Average rating 8.6 from 78 review(s) Please specify which version of the distribtion you are reviewing. Please select a rating in the range of 1-10. Please write at least a few sentences about the distribution while limiting your review to 4080 characters. What are your thoughts on Gentoo Linux? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- unstablestable2025070612.111.210.12008.02007.02006.12005.12004.31.41.21.1a1.0 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: unstable Rating: 9 Date: 2025-06-12 Votes: 1 I'm running (rolling) Gentoo on a server and a laptop for 20+ years. I was a Debian user before and security aspects pushed me towards finding another distro after Adamantix. By that time current Debian packages were often out-of-date. I fell in love with make.conf, USE flags and other handy tools. I could apply system hardening on a glibc level. Most of the security improvements are mainline now, but easy patching is still a big advantage. Previously there were commands to search for broken libraries caused by an update, nowdays the system automatically keeps track of relevant library updates that would break things and there is a simple command to take care of the affected packages. The package management is quite simple, while providing possibility for precompiled binary packages. Another important feature: you are free to choose your init system - not trivial nowdays. I was using systemd for a while, and switched back to openrc. I run it on systems with both legacy BIOS and UEFI. Installation requires some experience. However it's not as deep as it was 20 years ago starting from stage1. Users may start right from stage3 nowdays, while missing some of the internals of compiling a system really from the ground up. It was more popular before, but I hope the community will keep it alive for many more years. Let's admit most users would not benefit from some specialized system-wide compiler flags. But the possibility is still there if you are using Gentoo. Whatever you want. I would probably using Artix and Devuan if I wasn't an avid user. I have to admit, that I'm not messing with the kernel compiling framework and I compile my own kernels. Professionals may appreciate its unique features. I give 9 stars because nothing is perfect. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: unstable Rating: 10 Date: 2025-06-07 Votes: 3 One of the best distribution. Its a very fast, easy to administrate and customizable Linux. Of course you will learn much about the GNU/Linux system in a short period, but after a short time you will not miss portage and the gentoo features.... i use it for some productive systems (stable) and the most of our develompent systems running the unstable variant. in the last 5years there were no bigger problems. also as host for multiple lxc-containers is gentoo perfect, cause its slim, optimized and lightweight... Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: stable Rating: 10 Date: 2025-05-18 Votes: 52 Gentoo is honestly one of those distros that just clicks if you're the kind of person who loves tweaking and control. The level of customizibility is insane- you basically build your system from the ground up, only adding what you actually want, just how I love to call Gentoo is technically just like LEGO. No random background junk eating up RAM or disk space. It’s like building a PC, but for your OS. The out of the box Gentoo bash color profile is one thing I fell love in with at first look, this purplish-blue + green truly resembles something UFO-ey in it, which I got used to instantly :D Also the portage eyecandy can be turned on, and you'll see a nice colorful fancy query progress as portage does magic when you're about to install/update somethin' USE flags are probably my favorite part and is a godsend. You can fine-tune features on a per-package basis. Don’t want some package pulling in X or Qt or PulseAudio? Just flip the flag off and recompile. It's super clean once you get the hang of it. Portage too. Like yeah it’s slower than apt or pacman, but it feels a lot smarter. You see exactly what’s being pulled in and why. It just makes sense and feels less opaque compared to other package managers. Logs are also actually readable, which is rare these days lol. The learning curve can be steep at first, but you pick up so much along the way. You’ll end up understanding how init systems work, how kernel modules load, what compiler flags do, and just generally how Linux fits together under the hood. Gentoo doesn’t hide anything, and that’s a good thing if you're curious. And the community is full of ppl who really know what they’re doing, you'll def get help if you ask. The wiki and handbook are also top-tier - seriously, better than most distros. As per their FAQ wiki: "Do not confuse rolling release with bleeding edge. Gentoo updates may be fast-paced, but Gentoo is a stable distribution, with exceptional reliability. All packages are fully tested, and must meet high standards. Quality control is a fundamental priority for the project at large." Stable but bleeding edge? Yes please! And what’s cool is you can actually balance stability and cutting-edge pretty well. Stick to stable if you want to chill, or go "unstable" if you want newer stuff (but even unstable is more stable than distros calling themselves stable). Or unmask just the one bleeding-edge package you want, super easy to do. Once you get used to this kind of power, it’s hard to go back to other distros that lock things down more. It’s kinda addictive. Gentoo isn’t just a distro, it’s a whole mindset. Gentoo’s docs deserve way more credit than they get. The Handbook is probably one of the best step-by-step Linux guides out there, period. It doesn't just tell you what to do, but also why,which helps a ton if you're trying to actually learn stuff instead of just copy-pasting commands. And the wiki? Super clear, well-maintained, and actually focused on Gentoo stuff. Not like Arch’s wiki which feels kinda chaotic half the time,like a huge pile of user notes slapped together, often outdated or assuming you already know the answer. Gentoo’s docs feel like someone actually sat down and cared about explaining things properly. On top of that, the community is very welcoming and friendly, especially for a “hardcore” distro. The forums are super helpful if you put in some effort, and people don’t usually act all elitist or gatekeepy. You won’t get roasted for asking a question like you might on some other distro forums lol. Same goes for the IRC channels,people there actually know their stuff and will point you in the right direction without being arrogant about it. That combination of strong, clear docs and a chill, knowledgable community really makes Gentoo stand out. It’s not just a distro for tinkering,it’s one where you actually learn and feel like you’re part of something built by people who care. Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 78 reader reviews of Gentoo Linux...