Gentoo really helped me learn some more advanced parts of a linux system. And I could learn it one bit at a time, because you install it step by step.
But it can still be a bit overwelming... and I have been using computers every day for most of my life.
I think that redhat and mandrake are two of the reasons why many people that try linux don't like it - it is too difficult to upgrade (try upgrading from gnome 2.0 to 2.2 or 2.4, for example) and it is generally too difficult to install things that come out afterwords that have many dependencies.
Gentoo does it all for you. I would use debian, but gentoo's desktop apps/packages are newer and more stable than debian unstable. They usually have things before other distros. But by all means - run debian on your server.
It is also a lot easier if you are developing, because there aren't separate *-devel packages. If you have the library you want to use, then you have anything you need. If you are writing a new app, then you obviously have to have the latest stuff, otherwise it is going to be outdated before you are done.
and the userbase is friendly and helpful. Yes - there are many 'noobs', but remember that we need new users and we need to help them learn linux so that linux can become successfull. All of them might not code, but they help a lot with testing and they provide valuable feedback to make things easier and better. They are the users, coders and sys-admins of tomorrow. You can't advocate linux and free software, but then shun new users.
Better let them use Gentoo where they will receive friendly help than leave them to ask "stupid" questions on elitist (you know the name of the distro) mailing lists.
Performance optimization is mostly a myth and not a reason why I use gentoo. Customisation is a valid reason, though.
