Gentoo Sales Pitch
  Philosophy
    Gentoo is tool based -- tools are supposed to make the distro easier to
    use (DWIM). Tools and the distro allows people to do whatever they want
    and easily customize a system around their needs. Focused around
    building -- the "package" files can be easily interpreted by humans,
    tweaked/overlayed, and easily created. Dependencies are resolved. Binary
    packages are supported.

  Who's using it?
    It's not that popular for labs because it's like Linux From Scratch --
    it doesn't work immediately out of the box, not great for ghosting.

    La Sierra University Riverside (CA) uses it on servers.

  LSB compliance
    "In what will likely prove to be a controversial decision, Portage 2.1
    will adopt the RPM format for all packages moving forward. The use of
    ebuilds will be deprecated in favor of the defacto RPM standard. The
    primary driver for this decision was to ensure compliance with the Linux
    Standard Base specification, which mandates RPM support for package
    management.

    (portage is currently 2.0.50_pre19)

    "The developers have been hard at work to make this migration as easy as
    possible. Already a proof-of-concept ebuild2rpm script is in place and
    being tested by a pilot group of developers. Unfortunately, because of
    the architectural differences between the two formats, some features
    will not be supported once Gentoo moves to RPM. USE variables are one
    such feature; sandbox security is another. However, the added benefit
    brought about by full LSB compliance should far outweigh the loss of
    these two minor features."

  What do we need to Configure / Modify?
    Greate config file management. Makes sure files aren't clobbered. Lets
    you deal them interactiely or automatically. Configurable as to which
    files, too.

    HOWTO for Central Gentoo mirror is available. Simply point portage at
    the NFS share for portage tree & packages. Issue of simultaneous access
    is a problem, but claim it is fixed by having a dedicated "sync"
    machine. Essentially, have a machine that acts as a gentoo server (could
    be one of the workstations, or our own, like darkside) that managees
    /usr/portage. Then tickle each machine to do an "emerge -u world" at
    3AM.

    Another solution is for the compiling to be done on one machine and
    binary packages made. Slave machines point at master for binary
    packages.

    0 On master machine, "emerge -b package" to build a binary package into
    the NFS shared "PKGDIR"
    0 On slave machine, "emerge --usepkg package"

    Config files?

  How current and mature is the distro?
    Very, VERY active development, but also means stuff could change. Their
    docs are great and include information like "what you need to know about
    the new version" and announcements are good. Weekly newsletter.

    Latest versions of all software.

  Package Management / Organization
    Runlevels. 3 internal (sysinit, shutdown, reboot), 4 user-defined (boot,
    default, nonetwork, single). "rc-update" exists. Init scripts are smart
    like OS X and have dependencies.

    Package system called "portage," based loosely off BSD Ports system,
    where you have a script of commands that you'd run to install the
    package, called an "ebuild." "Portage features the best of apt and
    ports; for example, USE options, a full dependency system, safe installs
    and uninstalls, and a true package database." Easily overriden using
    "overlays."

    USE flags like: arts, gnome, gtk2 and gtk, kde, java, jikes, jpeg,
    readline, quicktime, xmms

    Packages are built in a sandbox and then "merged" into the filesystem,
    like stow. Non-root users can "pretend" to build pacakges.

    When building packages you can even hop in and run the "./configure"
    step yourself, or anything else you need to.

    Binary packages available with the "--usepkg" flag. "distcc" and
    "ccache" are native features. Binary packages can be created for every
    ebuild.

    Portage packages are organized two-tier, such as "app-crypt",
    "net-firewall", "gnome-libs" and "games-puzzle"

    Changelog available as a plain file.

    Yes, portage can be run without gentoo, there's a dedicated "Advanced
    Topics" thread. People recommend LFS.

    Yes, portage can be run over NFS, there's a dedicated "Advanced Topics"
    thread. Not much discussion, though.... having only one machine update
    the portage tree...

  Quirks
    Kernel building. "genkernel" script, or the Old Way. Tons of different
    kernels, best IMHO is the vanilla linux kernel.

    OpenGL weirdness.

    (See Josh's friends.)

  Documentation
    "http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en", forums, and 828 people in the "#gentoo"
    channel. 281 people browsing the forums (88 registered, 3 moderators).
    Forums are sorted constantly, very well organized.

    Gentoo.org docs are done in AxKit. Pages are very, VERY VERY nicely
    formatted with examples, code snippets, and disgustingly easy to read.
    16 editors and 4 reviewers.

    * Gentoo Security Guide (general, tcp wrappers, PAM, xinetd, firewalls,
    IDS [aide, snort])
    * LDAP auth guide
    * User-mode linux guide
    * Distcc guide
    * OpenMosix guide