Unlike a binary software distribution, the source code is compiled locally according to the user's preferences and is often optimized for the specific type of computer.

Gentoo describes itself as a meta-distribution because of its adaptability, in that the majority of its users have configurations and sets of installed programs which are unique to the system and the applications they use.

The name was chosen to reflect the potential speed improvements of machine-specific optimizing, which is a major feature of Gentoo.

[7] An older release labeled "Enoch 0.5" can be found on the CD accompanying the August 1999 edition of the Danish computer magazine Alt om Data.

The modifications to EGCS eventually became part of the official GCC (version 2.95); Gentoo and other Linux distros benefited from similar speed increases.

[11] In 2004, Robbins set up the non-profit Gentoo Foundation, transferred all copyrights and trademarks to it, and stepped down as chief architect of the project.

[21][22][23][24][25][26] Gentoo appeals to Linux users who want full control of the software that is installed and running on their computer.

[27]: 402  People who are prepared to invest the time required to configure and tune a Gentoo system can build very efficient desktops and servers.

[citation needed] 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 system.

Memory usage can also be reduced compared to other distributions by omitting unnecessary kernel features and services.

[28] Pre-compiled binaries are provided for some applications with long build times, such as LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox, but users lose the ability to customize optional features.

[30] Additionally, the user may be able to mount a large filesystem in memory to further speed up the process of building packages.

It is officially supported and considered stable on IA-32, x86-64, PA-RISC, 32-bit and 64-bit PowerPC, 64-bit SPARC, DEC Alpha, and 32- and 64-bit ARM architectures.

[37][38] 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.

Although this is widely regarded as a complex task, Gentoo provides documentation and tools to simplify the process.

[47] A Live USB of Gentoo Linux can be created manually, by using various tools, or with dd as described in the handbook.

However, if so desired, a user may still rebuild the toolchain or reinstall the base system software during or after a normal stage3 installation, effectively simulating the old bootstrap process.

This continued until 2008, when it was announced that the 2008.1 Live CD release had been cancelled in favour of weekly automated builds of both Stages 3 and Minimal CDs.

Initially planned as a one-off, the Live DVD was updated to the latest package versions in 2011 due to its popularity among new users.

[90] In June 2018 the Gentoo GitHub code repository mirror used mainly by developers was hacked after an attacker gained access to an organization administrator's account via deducing the password.