For me
Mint
Manjaro
Zorin
Garuda
Neon
Gentoo. There’s way better methods to learn Linux, compiling, and the filesystem hierarchy standard. Start with Linux From Scratch and go from there.
LFS doesn’t give you a usable system in practice though. A distribution is nothing without package management.
Gentoo gives you a thorough course in Linux fundamentals, and has lots of other benefits. Forget the mild gains of compiling for your specific CPU, it’s really all about the incredible flexibility of Portage.
incredible flexibility of Portage
Exactly.
I know people running systemd AND OpenRC on their Gentoo installs. Gentoo is a metadistro. It gives you the tools to build your own distro. SO in comparison to LFS, Gentoo is pretty similar. It’s just the tools that differ (although one can use Portage with LFS…)
Gentoo gives you a thorough course in Linux fundamentals
I basically learned everything Linux related from using Gentoo.
I can’t imagine why someone would want both init systems; that’s awesome.
Yeah but which one teaches you more about how Linux works, versus how this distro works ? Linux isn’t a package manager.
LFS surely teaches more, but not by much.
Portage lets you see down into the proper guts of Linux deployment. It’s much more applicable knowledge than almost any other distro. Plus, the install and maintenance teach non-specific fundamentals as well.
LFS gives a bit more learning and an utterly impractical OS for real life.
Gentoo teaches slightly less, and gives you an extremely robust and flexible OS.
the whole user demographic is like 5 dudes. I agree why go for Gentoo when you can go for Linux from Scratch. Maybe simply because it has a catchier distro name
… unless you install a package manager, which turns LFS into an another distro. 🤷
Gentoo is a metadistro - a set of tools to build your own distro. LFS is a documentation to build your own Linux system. And if one chooses to install some package manager and configure a repo for it, it basically becomes a distro. LFS can become Gentoo if you choose to install Portage and use Gentoo repository.
Setting Gentoo up seems to be quite simpler option compared to LFS. Sure LFS might teach you even more than Gentoo.
