Source Distros worth it these days?

**LiamOS** · October 9th, 2012

I use Gentoo largely for the same reasons. I still do see a few noticeable performance increases, though, python, boot times, etc. among them.

The benchmarks I found seem to suggest that Gentoo does make a reasonable difference.

**Rukiri** · October 10th, 2012

I do have to ask, mainly cause I got cs6 working in wine with funtoo(yes, I consider Funtoo an upgrade to Gentoo). Git > Rsync anyday.

Why does wine run better with ubuntu and source distros?

**LiamOS** · October 10th, 2012

Originally Posted by Rukiri

(yes, I consider Funtoo an upgrade to Gentoo). Git > Rsync anyday.

Agreed. Sadly, Funtoo is a bit too conservative for me. If I was running a server, I'd Funtoo the hell out of it.

Originally Posted by Rukiri

Why does wine run better with ubuntu and source distros?

I honestly have no clue. It might be interesting to download wine binaries(See if Ubuntu ones will work, perhaps) to see how they work in comparison, or maybe even ask in #funtoo/#gentoo to see if anybody knows there.

**Rukiri** · October 10th, 2012

I just had to ask mainly because if you wanna run Photoshop you'd better be in Gentoo or Ubuntu.

Some Ubuntu users have cs6 running flawlessly, wondering if they're using XP for their dlls?

**xravexheavenx** · October 10th, 2012

Source distros are definitely worth the effort if you want a highly customized machine. I am a Gentoo guy and have been for many years. The amount of speed gained by installing only what you want with compatibility for only what you have is unparalleled. I highly recommend playing with either Gentoo or Arch.

**Rukiri** · October 11th, 2012

Originally Posted by xravexheavenx

Source distros are definitely worth the effort if you want a highly customized machine. I am a Gentoo guy and have been for many years. The amount of speed gained by installing only what you want with compatibility for only what you have is unparalleled. I highly recommend playing with either Gentoo or Arch.

I've been a gentoo guy since around 2004, prior to that I used slackware and debian.

**x-shaney-x** · October 11th, 2012

I have used source distros (in fact my very first experience of linux was a very l-o-n-g gentoo install (stage something it was called at the time where you literally build it from scratch).
I learnt a lot from it back then and read a lot about optimizing.
When I eventually moved onto a "pre-made" distro (knoppix) I found there was barely any noticeable difference, performance-wise.

They are worth it if you actually want to learn about the inner-workings a bit more but I wouldn't say they are worth the effort if you are just after a performance boost.