Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Custom ebuilds for CoreOS

[Rich Freeman <rich0@gentoo.org>]

On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 9:28 AM, Mark David Dumlao <madumlao@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> but why? its its own frigging distro now. not gentoo by a long shot.
>

I think it is actually a compliment to the flexibility of Gentoo that
these derivatives are so different.  Gentoo is a somewhat-generic
linux distro overall - in its default install it isn't too different
from Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/Arch on the surface and in terms of typical
package selection.  However, ChromeOS and CoreOS are very
non-traditional linux "distros."

When people ask me what Gentoo is "good for" I of course talk about
enthusiasts who care about both understanding their systems and having
a high degree of control, but I also talk about projects where you're
trying to blaze new trails and departing significantly from the
typical "linux desktop" or LAMP box.  If all you want is a stable LAMP
box then honestly you're probably better off with the likes of
Debian/CentOS/etc.  However, if you're doing something embedded, or
trying to change the world, then starting with Gentoo gives you a lot
more flexibility to blaze new ground while not having to build
EVERYTHING from scratch.

So, when people use Gentoo to do things that we personally don't find
useful, I think it is just a testimony to the fact that we've actually
accomplished one of our core missions: empowering our users to make
their own choices.

--
Rich