• Home Page, Headlines
 • DW Weekly, Comments
 • Packages, Package Management
 • Glossary, FAQ, Mobile Site
 • Search, Sitemap
 • Major Distributions
 • Submit Distribution
 • Upcoming Releases
 • About DistroWatch
 • Page Hit Ranking
 • Advertise
 • Torrent Downloads

Gentoo Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Gentoo Linux

Gentoo Linux


Last Update: 2025-02-06 21:50 UTC


Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast, completely free Linux distribution geared towards developers and network professionals. Unlike other distros, Gentoo Linux has an advanced package management system called Portage. Portage is a true ports system in the tradition of BSD ports, but is Python-based and sports a number of advanced features including dependencies, fine-grained package management, "fake" (OpenBSD-style) installs, safe unmerging, system profiles, virtual packages, config file management, and more.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 60 (168), 6 months: 62 (170), 3 months: 62 (178), 4 weeks: 66 (188), 1 week: 68 (190)

Average visitor rating: 8.65/10 from 71 review(s).


Gentoo Summary
Distribution Gentoo Linux
Home Page https://www.gentoo.org/
Mailing Lists https://www.gentoo.org/main/en/lists.xml
User Forums https://forums.gentoo.org/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/index.xml
https://wiki.gentoo.org/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xmlDistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://bugs.gentoo.org/
Related Websites Planet GentooGentooVPSWikipediaGentoo GermanyGentoo GermanyGentoo JapanGentoo RussiaGentoo Taiwan
Reviews 2023: DistroWatch
2016: DistroWatch
12.x: BlogspotUbuntu Manual
2008: Linuxoid (Russian) • It's a Binary World
2007: ThePCSpy
2006: LXer
2005: BlogspotOSNewsViva O Linux (Portuguese) • DistroWatch
2004: Linux JournalLinux GazetteLXer
1.x: OSNews
Where To Donate, Buy or Try Donate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2016-05-28: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 20160514
 • 2014-09-04: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 20140826
 • 2012-12-21: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 20121221
 • 2012-04-01: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 12.1
 • 2012-01-02: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 12.0
 • 2011-08-08: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 11.2
 • 2011-03-08: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 11.0
 • 2009-10-05: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 10.0
 • 2009-09-27: Development Release: Gentoo Linux 10.0 Test
 • 2008-07-06: Distribution Release: Gentoo Linux 2008.0
 • 2008-04-29: Development Release: Gentoo Linux 2008.0 Beta 2
 • 2008-04-01: Development Release: Gentoo Linux 2008.0 Beta 1
 • More Gentoo releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2024-08-14 Gentoo dropping IA-64 hardware support
 • 2024-04-11 Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project
 • 2024-02-04 Gentoo expands binary package repositories to include optimized architectures
 • 2024-01-23 Gentoo reviews work from 2023 and plans for 2024
 • 2023-12-29 Gentoo offers a full range of binary packages
 • 2023-05-20 20 years of running Gentoo
 • 2023-02-09 Gentoo publishes overview of 2022
 • 2022-04-04 Gentoo is making a beautiful live GUI image
 • 2022-01-04 Gentoo takes a look back at 2021
 • 2021-07-20 Gentoo expanding download options
 • More Gentoo headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
TUXEDO
TUXEDO Computers

TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!

Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.

Star Labs

Star Labs Systems | Laptops designed for Linux

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.


Advertisement


Feature unstable stable 20160514 20140826 20121221 12.1 12.0 11.2 11.0 10.1 2008.0 2007.0 2006.1 2006.0 2005.1 2005.0 2004.3 2004.2 2004.1 2004.0 1.4 1.2 1.1a 1.0 Feature
Release Date 2025-02-06 2025-02-06 2016-05-27 2014-09-04 2012-12-21 2012-04-01 2012-01-02 2011-08-07 2011-03-08 2009-10-10 2008-07-06 2007-05-07 2006-08-30 2006-02-27 2005-08-08 2005-03-28 2004-11-15 2004-07-26 2004-04-28 2004-03-01 2003-08-05 2002-06-05 2002-04-08 2002-03-31 Release Date
End Of Life                                                 End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB)   2824-2824                                             Image Size (MB)
Free Download Packages Packages Packages ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Graphical Graphical Graphical Graphical Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop -- -- KDE KDE KDE KDE KDE KDE KDE KDE Xfce GNOME -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Default Desktop
Package Management SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) SRC (Portage) Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite GOffice, Calligra, LibreOffice GOffice, Calligra, LibreOffice GOffice, LibreOffice GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, LibreOffice GOffice, KOffice, LibreOffice KOffice, LibreOffice GOffice, KOffice, LibreOffice GOffice, OO.o GOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice KOffice Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86, alpha, amd64, arm, hppa, mips, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, alpha, amd64, arm, hppa, mips, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, alpha, amd64, arm, hppa, ia64, mips, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, x86_64 x86, alpha, amd64, hppa, ia64, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, alpha, amd64, arm, hppa, ia64, mips, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, hppa, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, hppa, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, hppa, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, hppa, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, hppa, ppc, ppc64, sparc x86, amd64, ppc, sparc x86, amd64, ppc, sparc x86, HPPA, ppc, sparc, mips x86, HPPA, ppc, sparc, mips x86, ppc, sparc x86, ppc, sparc   Processor Architecture
Init Software OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC OpenRC Init Software
Journaled File Systems ext4, ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS -- -- -- ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ReiserFS, XFS Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes en en en Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Multilingual
Asian Language Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -- -- -- cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw cn, jp, kr, tw       Asian Language Support
Full Package List unstable stable 20160514 20140826 20121221 12.1 12.0 11.2 11.0 10.1                     1.4 1.2 1.1a   Full Package List
Package unstable stable 20160514 20140826 20121221 12.1 12.0 11.2 11.0 10.1 2008.0 2007.0 2006.1 2006.0 2005.1 2005.0 2004.3 2004.2 2004.1 2004.0 1.4 1.2 1.1a 1.0 Package
abiword (3.0.5) 3.0.5 -- 3.0.1 3.0.0 -- 2.8.6 -- 2.8.6 2.8.6 2.6.4 2.6.3 2.4.6 2.4.5 2.2.11 2.2.8 2.2.3 2.0.10 2.0.6 2.0.5 2.0.2 1.0.6 1.0.1 0.99.3 -- abiword (3.0.5)
alsa-lib (1.2.13) 1.2.13 1.2.12 1.1.1 1.0.28 1.0.26 1.0.25 1.0.24.1 1.0.24.1 1.0.24.1 1.0.20 1.0.16 1.0.14rc3 1.0.11 1.0.10 1.0.9 1.0.8 1.0.6 1.0.5 1.0.3b 0.9.8 0.9.2 0.9.0rc1 0.9.0beta10 -- alsa-lib (1.2.13)
amdgpu (23.0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.471.3 8.32.5 8.21.7                       amdgpu (23.0.0)
bash (5.2.37) 5.3beta 5.2 4.3 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05a 2.05a 2.05a bash (5.2.37)
bind (9.20.5) 9.18.31 9.18.29 9.10.3-P4 -- -- -- -- -- 9.7.3 -- 9.4.1-P1 9.3.4 9.3.2 9.3.2 9.2.5 9.2.2 9.2.2 9.2.2 9.2.2 9.2.2 9.2.2 9.2.1 9.2.0 -- bind (9.20.5)
chromium (133.0.6943.53) -- -- 50.0.2661.75 37.0.2062.35 24.0.1312.35 18.0.1025.142 -- 13.0.782.107 -- --                             chromium (133.0.6943.53)
cups (2.4.11) 2.4.11 2.4.11 2.1.3 1.7.4 1.6.1 1.5.2 1.4.8 1.4.6 1.4.6 1.3.10 1.3.7 1.2.9 1.1.23 1.1.23 1.1.23 1.1.23 1.1.20 1.1.20 1.1.20 1.1.20 1.1.19 1.1.14 1.1.14 -- cups (2.4.11)
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.1.2-P1 3.1.1 3.0.3 3.0.3 3.0.3 3.0.1 3.0.1 3.0.1 3.0.1 3.0pl2 3.0pl2 3.0pl2 3.0 3.0 -- dhcp (4.4.3-P1)
e2fsprogs (1.47.2) 1.47.2 1.47.1 1.42.13 1.42.10 1.42.6 1.42.1 1.42 1.41.14 1.41.14 1.41.3 1.40.9 1.39 1.39 1.38 1.38 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.34 1.34 1.33 1.27 1.27 1.27 e2fsprogs (1.47.2)
firefox (135.0) 135.0 -- 45.0.1 31.0 17.0.1 11.0 9.0 5.0 3.6.13 3.5.3 2.0.0.15 2.0.0.3 1.5.0.6 1.0.7 1.0.6 1.0.2 1.0pre 0.9.1             firefox (135.0)
freetype (2.13.3) 2.13.3 2.13.3 2.6.3 2.5.3 2.4.10 2.4.9 2.4.8 2.4.6 2.4.4 2.3.9 2.3.7 2.3.3 2.1.10 2.1.9 2.1.9 2.1.9 2.1.5 2.1.5 2.1.5 2.1.5 2.1.4 2.1.0 2.0.9 -- freetype (2.13.3)
gcc (14.2.0) 14.2.1pre 14.2.1pre 5.3.0 4.8.3 4.6.3 4.5.3 4.5.3 4.5.2 4.5.2 4.3.2 3.4.6 4.1.1 4.1.1 3.4.4 3.4.4 3.4.3 3.4.1 3.3.3 3.3.3 3.3.2 3.2.3 2.95.3 2.95.3 2.95.3 gcc (14.2.0)
gimp (2.10.38) 2.10.38 2.10.38 2.9.2 2.8.10 2.8.2 2.6.12 2.6.11 2.6.11 2.6.11 2.6.4 2.4.2 2.2.14 2.2.12 2.2.8 2.2.6 2.0.4 2.0.4 2.0.0 1.2.5 1.2.5 1.2.4 1.2.3 1.2.3 -- gimp (2.10.38)
glibc (2.41) 2.40 2.40 2.23 2.19 2.16.0 2.14.1 2.14.1 2.13 2.12.2 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.4 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.4 2.3.4 2.3.3 2.3.2 2.3.2 2.3.2 2.2.5 2.2.5 2.2.5 glibc (2.41)
gnome-shell (47.4) 47.3 46.7 -- 3.12.2 3.4.2 3.2.2.1 3.2.1 3.0.2 -- --                             gnome-shell (47.4)
gnucash (5.10) 5.10 5.8 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.9 2.2.9 2.2.5 2.0.5 1.8.11 1.8.11 1.8.9 1.8.9 1.8.9 1.8.9 1.8.8 1.8.8 1.8.4 1.6.6 1.6.6 -- gnucash (5.10)
gnumeric (1.12.57) 1.12.57 -- 1.12.28 1.12.17 1.10.17 1.10.17 1.10.17 1.10.17 1.10.13 1.8.4 1.8.3 1.6.3 1.6.3 1.4.3 1.4.3 1.4.1 1.2.13 1.2.6 1.2.6 1.2.2 1.0.13 1.0.6 1.0.5 -- gnumeric (1.12.57)
grub (2.12) 2.12 2.12 2.02beta3 2.02beta2 2.00 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.93 0.93 0.90 0.91 0.90 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.16.12) 4.16.12 4.14.4 3.18.9 3.12.2 3.4.4 3.2.4 3.2.2 3.0.12 2.22.1 2.16.6 2.12.9 2.10.9 2.8.19 2.8.8 2.6.7 2.6.2 2.4.9 2.4.1 2.4.0 2.2.4 2.2.1 2.0.2 1.2.10 -- gtk (4.16.12)
httpd (2.4.63) 2.4.62 2.4.62 -- 2.4.10 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.9 2.0.58 2.0.58 2.0.55 2.0.54 2.0.52 2.0.49 2.0.49 -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.63)
inkscape (1.4) 1.4 1.4 0.91 0.48.5 0.48.3.1 0.48.3 0.48.2 0.48.2 0.48.1 0.46 0.46 0.45.1 0.43 0.43 0.41                   inkscape (1.4)
k3b (24.12.2) 24.12.1 -- -- 2.0.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.0.4 0.12.17 0.12.14 0.12.8 0.11.24 0.11.18 0.11.17 0.11.12 0.11.9 0.11.1 0.8.1 0.6.0pre2 0.6.0pre2 -- k3b (24.12.2)
kmod (33) 33 33 22 18 12                                       kmod (33)
krita (5.2.9) 5.2.9 --                                             krita (5.2.9)
LibreOffice (25.2.0) 24.2.7 -- 5.1.2 4.2.5 3.6.4 3.5.1 3.4.99.2 3.4.2 3.2.1 3.1.1 2.4.1 2.1.0 2.0.3 2.0.1 1.1.4 1.1.4 1.1.3 1.1.1 1.1.1 1.1.0 1.0.3 1.0 641b -- LibreOffice (25.2.0)
linux (6.13.1) 6.13.1 6.6.74 4.6 3.15.6 3.6.8 3.3 3.1.6 3.0 2.6.37 2.6.30.5 2.6.25.9 2.6.19 2.6.17 2.6.15 2.6.12 2.6.11 2.6.9 2.6.7 2.6.5 2.4.25 2.4.19 2.4.18 2.4.18 2.4.17 linux (6.13.1)
Package unstable stable 20160514 20140826 20121221 12.1 12.0 11.2 11.0 10.1 2008.0 2007.0 2006.1 2006.0 2005.1 2005.0 2004.3 2004.2 2004.1 2004.0 1.4 1.2 1.1a 1.0 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) 0.10.1 -- -- -- 0.5.5 0.5.5 0.5.5 0.5.5 -- --                             lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (11.5.2) 10.11.11 10.6.17 -- -- --                                       mariadb (11.5.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.28.2 1.28.2 -- -- --                                       mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (24.3.4) 25.0.0rc2 24.3.3 11.2.1 10.2.4 9.0.1 8.0.2 7.11.2 7.11 7.10.1 7.5.1                             mesa (24.3.4)
mysql (9.2.0) 8.0.40 8.0.37 -- 5.5.38 5.5.28 5.1.61 5.1.59 5.1.58 5.1.53 5.0.84 5.0.54 5.0.38 4.1.21 4.1.14 4.0.24 4.0.24 4.0.22 4.0.20 4.0.18 4.0.16 4.0.13 3.23.49 3.23.49 -- mysql (9.2.0)
nautilus (47.2) 47.1 46.2 -- 3.12.2 3.4.2 3.2.1 3.2.1 3.0.2 2.32.2.1 2.26.4 2.20.0 2.16.3 2.14.1 2.12.2 2.10.1 2.8.2 2.8.0 2.6.0 2.4.2 2.4.2 2.2.4 1.0.6 1.0.6 -- nautilus (47.2)
NVIDIA (565.77) 390.157 390.157 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.0-8776                         NVIDIA (565.77)
openbox (3.6.1) 3.6.1 3.6.1 -- 3.5.2 3.5.0 3.5.0 3.5.0 3.5.0 3.4.11.2 3.4.7.2                             openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (23.0.2) 21.0.6p7 17.0.13p11 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --                           openjdk (23.0.2)
openssh (9.9p1) 9.9p1 9.9p1 7.2p2 6.6p1 6.1p1 5.9p1 5.9p1 5.8p2 5.8p1 5.2p1 4.7p1 4.5p1 4.3p2 4.2p1 3.9p1 3.9p1 3.8.1p1 3.8.1p1 3.8p1 3.7.1p2 3.6.1p2 3.1p1 3.1p1 3.1p1 openssh (9.9p1)
openssl (3.4.0) 3.3.2 3.3.2 1.0.2g 1.0.1h 1.0.1c 1.0.0h 1.0.0e 1.0.0d 1.0.0d 0.9.8k 0.9.8g 0.9.8d 0.9.7j 0.9.7i 0.9.7e 0.9.7e 0.9.7d 0.9.7d 0.9.7d 0.9.7c 0.9.6j 0.9.6c 0.9.6c 0.9.6c openssl (3.4.0)
perl (5.40.1) 5.40.1rc1 5.40.0 5.22.1 5.18.2 5.16.1 5.12.4 5.12.4 5.12.4 5.12.3 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.7 5.8.6 5.8.5 5.8.4 5.8.4 5.8.2 5.8.2 5.8.0 5.6.1 5.6.1 5.6.1 perl (5.40.1)
php (8.4.3) 8.3.16 8.2.24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5.2.6rc4 5.2.2 5.1.4 5.0.5 4.4.0 4.3.10 4.3.9 4.3.8 4.3.4 4.3.4 4.3.2 4.2.0 4.1.2 -- php (8.4.3)
plasma-desktop (6.2.5) 6.2.5 -- 5.6.2 -- --                                       plasma-desktop (6.2.5)
postfix (3.9.1) 3.10pre 3.9.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.5.9 2.4.6 2.3.6 2.2.10 2.2.5 2.1.5 2.1.5 2.1.5 2.0.19 2.0.19 2.0.16 2.0.11 1.1.7 1.1.6 -- postfix (3.9.1)
postgresql (17.2) 17.2 17.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.0.15 8.0.13 8.0.8 8.0.7 8.0.3 7.4.7 7.4.6 7.4.3 7.3.6 7.3.5 7.3.3 7.2 7.2 -- postgresql (17.2)
Python (3.13.2) 3.13.2 3.13.1p1 3.5.1 3.3.5 3.2.3 3.2.2 3.2.2 3.2 3.1.3 2.6.2 2.4.4 2.4.4 2.4.3 2.3.5 2.3.5 2.3.4 2.3.4 2.3.3 2.3.3 2.3.3 2.2.3 2.2.1 2.2 2.2 Python (3.13.2)
qt (6.8.2) 5.15.16 5.15.16 5.5.1 4.8.5 4.8.4 4.8.1 4.7.4 4.7.3 4.7.1 4.5.2 3.3.8 4.2.3 4.1.4 3.3.4 3.3.4 3.3.4 3.3.3 3.3.2 3.3.1 3.3.0 3.1.2 3.0.3 3.0.3 -- qt (6.8.2)
samba (4.21.3) 4.21.1 4.19.7 3.6.25 3.6.24 3.6.9 3.6.3 3.6.1 3.6.0rc3 3.5.6 3.0.33 3.0.28a 3.0.24 3.0.22 3.0.14a 3.0.14a 3.0.10 3.0.8 3.0.5 3.0.2a 3.0.1 2.2.8a 2.2.4 2.2.3a -- samba (4.21.3)
systemd (257.2) 257.2 256.7 -- 215 --                                       systemd (257.2)
thunderbird (135.0) 128.6.0 -- 38.7.1 24.7.0 17.0 11.0.1 8.0 5.0 3.1.7 2.0.0.23 2.0.0.14 1.5.0.10 1.5.0.5 1.0.7 1.0.6 1.0.2 0.8 0.6             thunderbird (135.0)
vim (9.1) 9.1 9.1 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.0 7.0 6.4 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1 -- vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.21) 3.0.21 3.0.21 2.2.2 2.1.4 2.0.4 2.0.1 1.1.13 1.1.11 1.1.7 1.0.2 0.8.6g 0.8.6 0.8.4a 0.8.4 0.8.1                   vlc (3.0.21)
wayland (1.23.1) 1.23.1 1.23.1 1.10.0 -- --                                       wayland (1.23.1)
xfdesktop (4.20.0) 4.20.0 4.20.0 -- 4.11.6 4.10.0 4.8.3 4.8.3 4.8.2 4.8 4.6.1 4.4.2 4.4.0 4.2.3.2 4.2.2 4.2.2 4.2.0 4.0.6 4.0.5 3.8.18 3.8.18 3.8.18 3.8.16 3.8.14 -- xfdesktop (4.20.0)
xorg-server (21.1.15) 21.1.15 21.1.15 1.18.3 1.16.0 1.12.4 1.12.0 1.10.4 1.10.3 1.10.0 1.6.3.901 1.3.0.0 (7.2) (7.1) (6.8.2) (6.8.2) (6.8.2) (6.8.0) (6.7.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- xorg-server (21.1.15)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Gentoo Linux

Average rating
8.6
from 71 review(s)



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:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: stable
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-02-03
Votes: 4


Gentoo is about flexibility and choice. It's also very stable because by default Portage (the Gentoo package manager) install stable versions. But for example, you can override it just for a couple of packages and get new bleeding edge versions of just those packages that you need.

Gentoo is even more flexible than that. You can choose to use Musl, LLVM (Clang) and OpenRC instead of Glibc, GCC and Systemd. Or you can choose any combination of those. But it doesn't stop there! You can use the Portage package manager and one of its features called "USE flags" to easily select features that can be enabled or disabled at compile time. For example, I don't ever use Bluetooth or geolocation, so I can just disable support for both at compile-time! You can even set different USE flags on per-package basis, if you want or need to. Of course, there is a global way of setting USE flags in your Portage make.conf file, and Portage profiles provide sane defaults (I suggest using a profile that has "desktop" in its name, if you are new to Gentoo Linux). But Portage offers even more options for customization! You can select the CFLAGS on per-package basis, if you want to (or you can specify them globally on your make.conf). This is useful for enabling debugging information for just a couple of packages. You can also easily apply custom patches to source code files! Despite of having all of these customization options available to you, you don't have to micromanage every tiniest of details of your system, if you don't want to. Gentoo Linux doesn't need more maintenance work than something like Arch Linux or Alpine Linux, after you install it on your computer.

The only "drawback" or tradeoff of using Gentoo Linux is the fact that you build most of the packages from source code. And that requires a CPU with multiple cores and plenty of RAM. But that doesn't mean that you necessarily need a very high-end computer to run Gentoo because you can definitely use it on a regular quad-core system with 8GB of RAM and everything works fine (I have tested this!). If you are unsure whether your system can run Gentoo (or if installing Gentoo seems too difficult or something), I suggest first using VirtualBox or qemu and test it in a virtual machine before installing it on your real disk. It's also worth noting that you can use Flatpak to get some of the programs, so you don't necessarily need to build everything from source. And there is official binary package repository ("binhost") that's maintained by Gentoo development team.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: stable
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-01-23
Votes: 8


Undoubtedly one of the candidates for ‘End of the line for distro hopping’. On the one hand, it offers more freedom than Arch, e.g. through the USE flags, but on the other hand, the use of OpenRC sometimes makes it ... idiosyncratic. Yes, there is also a chance for systemd, but you get the impression that it is only unwillingly. That's why some applications are also difficult (I had the experience with VMWare yesterday). Or let's call it challenging.

But if you use it every day, you will love it.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: stable
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-01-06
Votes: 2


I've been using Gentoo for about as long as it has existed. I use it for my daily driver and on other systems.

There is a lot of stuff I like about Gentoo. They have moved a lot of things from the overlays into the main repository, which is great. They have started distributing binaries, which reduces update times for those who use them and provides a recovery path if something important chokes. I still compile everything myself, but it is nice to know the binaries are there if I ever need them.

I don't like everything they are doing tho. I understand the incentive to reduce the complexity of the distribution, and the huge size which mirrors have to host. But:

1) They eliminate things which I've used for years tho, usually claiming "no upstream support", even for things which aren't broken and have no dependencies. Sometimes it is just simple things like a great calculator, but occasionally removals can cause much more difficulty.

2) They often eliminate old unstable versions before any version becomes stable, forcing me to continue to use unstable packages on my stable-by-default system. I don't want perpetual instability. A distribution isn't supposed to be a hobby, it is supposed to be a stable, useful tool used for other things. Even worse, sometimes there is only one unstable version available for a package, leaving nothing at all to fall back on. To me, that just ain't right.

3) I used to have a lot more success finding packages I look for either in the main repository or in the overlays. I suppose that is thru no direct fault of their own, but is perhaps a symptom of the fatigue they have generated among their base.

There are solutions to the above. I retrieve and build a lot of stuff myself. I also have my own local-only overlay for the rare cases when I need to fix something in one of their packages. That has a steep learning curve tho. I don't want every simple thing I need to do to turn into a research project...

Support is pretty good. I find myself generally able to get good help from IRC channels. It is great to have such a thing available, at no cost even. And while you probably won't need it as often as many channels I've encountered, it is good to keep thick skin handy just in case.

Other very famous distributions have seriously left me in the lurch at times. It has been a long time since I've even experimented with anything other than Gentoo as a result.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with Gentoo. It ain't perfect tho, and it leaves me scratching my head at times. Which explains how I ended up on Distrowatch today... :D


Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 71 reader reviews of Gentoo Linux...

Extended Lifecycle Support for CentOS 7 | TuxCare






Copyright © 2001 - 2025 Atea Ataroa Limited. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Privacy policy. Change privacy settings.
DistroWatch.com is hosted at Copenhagen.

Contact, corrections and suggestions: Jesse Smith

Tips: bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx
lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr
86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le
PayPal.me/distrowPatreon.com/distrowatch