Editing Gentoo Linux (section)

==Features==
Gentoo appeals to Linux users who want full control of the software that is installed and running on their computer.<ref name="Negus2008"/>{{rp|402}} People who are prepared to invest the time required to configure and tune a Gentoo system can build very efficient [[Desktop environment|desktops]] and [[Server (computing)|servers]].{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} Gentoo encourages users to build a [[Linux kernel]] tailored to their particular hardware. It allows very fine control of which services are installed and running, including the option to choose between [[systemd]] or [[OpenRC]] as the default [[init|init system]]. Memory usage can also be reduced compared to other distributions by omitting unnecessary kernel features and services.<ref name="Negus2008"/>{{rp|386}}

Gentoo's package repositories provide a large collection of software. Each package contains details of any [[Coupling (computer programming)|dependencies]], so only the minimum set of packages need to be installed. Optional features of individual packages, such as whether they require [[Lightweight Directory Access Protocol|LDAP]] or [[Qt (software)|Qt]] support, can be selected by the user and any resulting package requirements are automatically included in the set of dependencies.<ref name="Negus2008"/>{{rp|386}}

Gentoo itself does not have a default [[look and feel]], hence installed packages usually appear as their authors intended.<ref name="Negus2008"/>{{rp|387}}

===Portage===
{{Main|Portage (software)}}
[[File:Gentoo-portage-installing-darktable.png|alt=Installing software. In this example, Darktable will build with Flickr and geolocation support.|left|thumb|500x500px|Installing software. In this example, [[Darktable]] will build with Flickr and geolocation support.]]
Portage is Gentoo's [[software distribution]] and [[Package manager|package management system]]. The original design was based on the [[Ports collection|ports system]] used by the [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] (BSD) operating systems. The Gentoo repository contains over 19,000 packages.<ref name="Negus2006">{{cite book|author=Chris Negus|title=Live Linux CDs: Building and Customizing Bootables|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S3eUgb39C8C&pg=PA224|year=2006|publisher=Prentice Hall Professional|isbn=978-0-13-243274-0|pages=224–|access-date=April 20, 2020|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326011823/https://books.google.com/books?id=2S3eUgb39C8C&pg=PA224|url-status=live}}</ref>

A single invocation of portage's {{mono|emerge}} command can update the local copy of the Gentoo repository, search for a package, or download, compile, and install one or more packages and their dependencies. The built-in features can be set for individual packages, or globally, with so-called "USE flags".<ref name="Negus2006"/>

Pre-compiled binaries are provided for some applications with long build times, such as [[LibreOffice]] and [[Firefox|Mozilla Firefox]], but users lose the ability to customize optional features. There are configuration options to reduce compiling times, such as by enabling parallel compiling or using [[Pipeline (Unix)|pipes]] instead of temporary files.<ref>[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86/Installation/Stage#CFLAGS_and_CXXFLAGS CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212004956/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86/Installation/Stage#CFLAGS_and_CXXFLAGS |date=February 12, 2018}}, Gentoo Linux x86 Handbook. December 13, 2014. Accessed February 10, 2018.</ref> Package compiling may also be distributed over multiple computers.<ref>[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Distcc Distcc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212004954/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Distcc |date=February 12, 2018}}, Gentoo Linux Wiki. February 2, 2018. Accessed February 10, 2018.</ref> Additionally, the user may be able to [[RAM drive|mount a large filesystem in memory]] to further speed up the process of building packages. Some approaches have drawbacks and are not enabled by default. When installing the same package on multiple computers with sufficiently similar hardware, the package may be compiled once and a binary package created for quick installation on the other computers.<ref>[https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Binary_package_guide Binary package guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212004921/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Binary_package_guide |date=February 12, 2018}}, Gentoo Linux Wiki. November 13, 2017. Accessed February 10, 2018.</ref>

On December 29th, 2023, it was announced that Gentoo will offer binary packages for download and direct installation. For most architectures, this will be limited to the core system and weekly updates. For amd64 and arm64 however the availability of binary packages reaches over 20 GB.
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gentoo.org/news/2023/12/29/Gentoo-binary.html |title=Gentoo goes Binary!}}</ref>

===Portability===
Inasmuch as Gentoo is a source-based distribution with a repository describing how to build the packages, adding instructions to build on different [[Instruction set architecture|machine architectures]] is particularly easy.<ref name="Horan2013">{{cite book|author=Brendan Horan|title=Practical Raspberry Pi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Vy_UfRQduQC&pg=PA222|date=March 26, 2013|publisher=Apress|isbn=978-1-4302-4971-9|pages=222–|access-date=April 20, 2020|archive-date=March 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326011821/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Vy_UfRQduQC&pg=PA222|url-status=live}}</ref>

Originally built on the [[IA-32]] architecture, Gentoo has since been ported to many others. It is officially supported and considered stable on IA-32, [[x86-64]], [[PA-RISC]], [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] and [[64-bit computing|64-bit]] [[PowerPC]], 64-bit [[SPARC]], [[DEC Alpha]], and 32- and 64-bit [[ARM architecture|ARM]] architectures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:Main_Page#Viewing_the_Handbook |title=Handbook:Main Page - Gentoo Wiki |access-date=2018-08-31 |archive-date=March 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318083659/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:Main_Page#Viewing_the_Handbook |url-status=live}}</ref> It is also officially supported but considered in-development state on [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:MIPS|title=Gentoo/MIPS|publisher=gentoo.org|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-date=January 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106202500/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Project:MIPS|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Cell (microprocessor)|PS3 Cell Processor]], [[IBM Z|System Z/s390]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dev.gentoo.org/~vapier/s390/ |title=Gentoo Linux Documentation – s390 Installation Document |publisher=dev.gentoo.org |date=2004-05-12 |access-date=2010-01-28 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728051203/http://dev.gentoo.org/~vapier/s390/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Official support for 32-bit SPARC, SuperH and Itanium have been dropped.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://devmanual.gentoo.org/archs/sparc/index.html |title=Gentoo Development Guide: Arch Specific Notes – SPARC |publisher=devmanual.gentoo.org |access-date=2018-02-10 |archive-date=September 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901113131/https://devmanual.gentoo.org/archs/sparc/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=*/*: Discontinue Gentoo SuperH port |url=https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/commit/?id=2e51443573bdad1d4757bed11ed5c02f137b822e |access-date=July 23, 2020 |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723053402/https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/commit/?id=2e51443573bdad1d4757bed11ed5c02f137b822e |url-status=live}}</ref>

Portability towards other operating systems, such as those derived from [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] (BSD), including [[macOS]], is under active development by the [[Gentoo/Alt]] project. The [[Gentoo/Alt#Gentoo/FreeBSD|Gentoo/FreeBSD]] project already has a working guide based on [[FreeSBIE]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Gentoo_FreeBSD|title=Gentoo FreeBSD|publisher=gentoo.org|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-date=January 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106211205/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Gentoo_FreeBSD|url-status=live}}</ref> while Gentoo/NetBSD, Gentoo/OpenBSD and Gentoo/DragonFly are being developed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/bsd/index.xml |title=Gentoo Linux Projects – Gentoo/*BSD |publisher=Gentoo.org |date=2006-10-19 |access-date=2010-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305161659/http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/bsd/index.xml |archive-date=March 5, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> A project exists to get Portage working on [[OpenSolaris]]. There was an unofficial project to create a Gentoo port to [[GNU Hurd]], but it has been inactive since 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mundurat.net/ggh/ |title=Gentoo GNU Hurd |publisher=Mundurat.net |access-date=2010-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109161805/http://www.mundurat.net/ggh/ |archive-date=January 9, 2010 |df=mdy}}</ref>

It is also possible to install a Gentoo Prefix (provided by a project that maintains alternative installation methods for Gentoo) in a [[Cygwin]] environment on Windows, but this configuration is experimental.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Prefix/Cygwin |title=Gentoo Wiki - Prefix/Cygwin |access-date=February 10, 2018 |archive-date=November 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112090959/https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Prefix/Cygwin |url-status=live}}</ref>