I have experimented with a Gentoo Based linux distribution and that was Sabayon Linux 3.5 POD.
I have had heard that Gentoo is very stable but takes a long time to install, update, or upgrade. The idea of Gentoo is having a very stable machine and making every package custom tailored to your machines. For instance, you want to install Firefox.. you have to download the package and then it have to compile it. Compiling takes a long time because it being built from source and being made specifically for your system.
Well, took me over 2 hr using there Spritz Package Manager to update my system. But, before that I have had Spritz crash twice and had to bird-dog the internet to find a way to UPGRADE Spritz before continuing, that took about 4 hrs of head aches. 170+ packages to download, compile, and building for my machine. Also, Sabayon Linux have like 3 different package management... what the heck. Emerge (command prompt) , Equo (command prompt), and Spritz (GUI) why?
You shouldn't need 20 mins to install and 15 mins to download Open Office on a 768Kbps DSL line. I shouldn't have to pick between 3 package managers. After the updates, upgrades, and installations of my favorite programs, the performance was hardly visible by me. Yes, slightly faster but not enof for me to make it my main Linux.
Well, If I want Stability, I stick with Slackware-based Distros. Like Zenwalk, Puppy, or GoblinX.
If I want Bleeding Edge, I'll go with Fedora or SUSE. But for the best of both worlds I'll stick with Linux Mint 5 XFCE CE. Gentoo in the last few years has lost a lot of its Developers and I can see why they fight. Stability over Easiness or Snappiness over Stability. So, at this point Sabayon is partitioned off my hard drive.
On another note for you Debian/Ubuntu users, SimplyMEPIS shouldn't be overlooked. KDE 3.5 is growing on me.
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