Many times I can read about how people look at Gentoo and its nature of always compiling each packet at installation. Often it’s believed that Gentoo is faster because the compilation can optimize for the processor being used. That may be true, but that is not what characterizes Gentoo.

So, I have been asked this question many times. And of course the assumption is that I am some sort of a masochist who enjoys wasting time on compiling packages. However, that is not entirely true. There are some other reasons why, after trying Ubuntu (started linux with it), Gentoo and then Arch I settled on Gentoo.

I finally removed myself from all the Gentoo mailing lists. I did this with some sad thoughts. I had been using gentoo for almost 4 Years and it tough me quite a lot about Linux. Unfortunately I have been seeing the Gentoo project die over the past Year or so. After going to the Gentoo UK meeting in 2006 I noticed that nothing important / technical was discussed. It was all about the flame wars going on on the mailing lists.

Yesterday I snapped and declared my intent to resign from Gentoo. Why did that happen? Well, it’s a huge mix of problems, all joined together by one common factor: no matter how much work I pour into getting Gentoo working like it should be, more problems are generated by sloppy work from at least one or two developers.

"I got bitten by trying to use Python 2.5 code that I originally wrote for a Debian system on my Gentoo box and it being angry with me. Rather than rewriting it for the short time left that Gentoo has Python 2.4 as the default, I decided to go for it now..."

I've been busy collecting some really great stories from people using Gentoo in places that I really didn't expect. There are some gems like this one:

There are many problems with Gentoo’s QA team, like the lack of proper coordination most of the time, the lack of a real Gentoo-based effort for continuous integration testing, and the lack of an absolute rulebook of “dos ad don’ts” for what concerns ebuilds. The main weakness in Gentoo’s Quality Assurance is developers not giving a shit about quality.

I was hanging out in ##linux on Freenode this morning, willing to help anyone out who needed it, and I came smack into the middle of an argument about why Gentoo is the best distribution in the world, and Debian is the worst. As the conversation progressed, it was clear that the one running Gentoo had never touched a Debian system, or was even half-way familiar with its structure.

Having the right people in the right places pursuing the right goals is key to Gentoo’s success. Keeping in mind the Pareto principle (20% of the effort produces 80% of the results), I’ve come up with some ideas.