On Saturday, 10 October 2020 10:13:42 BST Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 19:55:20 -0400, Jude DaShiell wrote:
> > If I have a desktop on a machine I go with mate when possible since I
> > never  liked unity when it was part of gnome.
> 
> Then use the plain desktop profile.
> 
> > I ought to check in on
> > lxqt since that's what Linus Torvalds was using last time I read about
> > that.
> 
> that's probably changed, Linus seems to change his opinions about such
> things as often as he changes his underwear. Just use what you like, he
> will both agree and disagree with you at least once in the next year :)

This wiki page explains portage profiles, what they mean and how they can be 
customised if so desired.

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Profile_(Portage)

It is better you do not install any 17.0 profile, since 17.1 profiles went 
stable more than a year ago.  Install your choice of a 17.1 profile instead.  
There have been a number of significant changes with the introduction of 17.1, 
which will add to you workload unnecessarily if you first go with 17.0 and 
then you inevitably decide to upgrade to 17.1 some day in the future.