# UN5:  Why should I use Gentoo instead of ____?

## pjp

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Why should I pick Gentoo over (insert favorite source distribution here)?

Gentoo has a strong support community, good documentation and for most people very few problems. Its package management system allows safe installation (merging) of new versions - the old one is kept until removed (cleaned). This solves many problems you'd otherwise encounter when installing from source and is a unique feature available only in Gentoo. Also, it's easy to globally enable support for something (e.g. mysql) - edit a single file and issue a single command, and everything that supports mysql will have been recompiled with support for it. Another Gentoo only feature. We think it's better, your mileage may vary, batteries not included.

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