I\'ve installed Gentoo many times, but everyone has their own experiences with it, some good and some bad. I prefer Gentoo because once you\'ve gone source, you can never go back! The speed is great, and portage is king. Yes, noobs may have trouble with the install because it is kind of intimidating, but the docs are the best I\'ve seen, and the help is plentifull. Just don\'t go into a Gentoo install hoping it will go quickly... My current phase 2 box has been running close to a year with zero problems or issues. I am by no means a Gentoo expert, but I love this distro. The only source distro I have found that is faster is CRUX, but it is not nearly as polished as Gentoo.