Although Robbins has moved
on to other endeavors, Gentoo still boasts one of the strongest user communities among all Linux
distributions. Gentoo users seem willing to contribute so freely because they feel that they get back
what they give to Gentoo.
The Portage software distribution management system is the key technology that separates
Gentoo from other Linux distributions. Based on the BSD Ports system, Portage can be used to
build almost the entire Gentoo distribution from source codes, and manage and upgrade that
software as well.
Gentoo??™s Open Source Spirit
Although Gentoo could some day produce a commercial Linux distribution, the Gentoo project
is committed to the goals of open source software, while still allowing those who use the software
to make money. Ways that those goals are reflected in Gentoo??”and not in some other
distributions??”include:
Passing bug fixes upstream??”Software bugs in open source projects are often shaken
out when actual Linux distributions are put together. When a distribution finds a bug, it
is considered good practice to pass the fix to that bug upstream, to the project maintaining
the original software.
Not passing bug fixes upstream could potentially give a commercial Linux distribution an
advantage over other distributions that don??™t have the fix.
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