Anyone rock the linux kernel?  

I have Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) running on my server in my basement and i think I have 12.04 w/ GNOME on my main rig.

Or do you mean like just a base linux kernel installed on my system?  

I mean any OS that uses the Linux kernel. I run Gentoo on my desktop.  

Never actually tried out Gentoo. Do you like it? Any pros/cons?  

Gentoo is great. great docs and great support community. almost everything can be customized. I don't like ubuntu because it tries to do everything for me. most people don't like Gentoo because it has a portage system (the package manager) that will compile everything from source. ive tried many flavors of GNU/Linux and Gentoo is my favorite. i havent owned a windows computer in 3 years.  

I'll have to check out Gentoo. There have been a few flavors that I've personally tested and whatever I do will be dual-booted with Windows 8 Pro. It's always good to have Windows for access to certain things that aren't on Linux, in my opinion. Also good for gaming. The idea of having a package manager that compiles from source would be pretty sweet, I have to admit.  

with gentoo you get to optimize the compiler to your system. also you can setup "use" flags that will keep your system small. for example, if you are running a server and want to install something, with the appropriate use flags you can keep the package manager from pulling in libraries you dont need. such as x11 stuff.  

I installed Debian a while ago but haven't gotten around to using it.  

http://windows7supportnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/windows7logo-580-75.jpg (Unsupported image host)  

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbK4bH66I5dYUnWxupm8Dmm0j8W5QirJzOltxMN9mzb9p6aWzblQ (Unsupported image host)  

Debian on my servers, Ubuntu w/ XFce (a.k.a Xubuntu *shrug*) + Windows 7 on my laptop.

I usually stick to Debian based OS'es but I am no stranger to Gentoo, Suse, Mandriva, Slackware nor Redhat/Fedora/CentOS.

SteamOS is apparently going to be based on Debian as well, which is neat for me as I know how to tweak it to my liking.  

I dont understand people who choose debian over gentoo  

http://mintywhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/windows1.1.png (Unsupported image host)  

Posted by hosler

I dont understand people who choose debian over gentoo

Debian is less tedious to maintain, as you don't need to compile everything. Google Gentoo vs Debian or something to gain some perspective.  

I use both. Debian for my servers and gentoo for desktops. I guess what you call tedious I call fun.