Gentoo isn’t just a distribution—it’s a learning platform and a philosophy. Building from source means understanding dependencies, compiler flags, and system architecture at a deeper level.
In production environments where performance and security are critical, the ability to strip unnecessary components and compile with specific optimizations isn’t just academic—it’s practical.
The Portage package manager offers granular control over USE flags, allowing precise tuning of system behavior. This level of control is invaluable when hardening systems or optimizing for specific workloads.
Yes, the compile times are real. But so is the knowledge gained and the performance achieved. For those willing to invest the time, Gentoo delivers transparency and control that binary distributions can’t match.