Gentoo is as stable as YOU make it!!!! I have run Gentoo exclusively as well for 14+ years, since ~2003. While my production servers are all mostly stable, none are 100%. All production systems have some ~arch packages, usually mine. Development network and desktops/laptops have always been ~arch. I rarely if ever have issues. I have long felt and state stability on such a distro/platform is a misnomer.
If your system is unstable, it could be due to the lack of time you spent making it stable. With some exceptions. Many time stable is more unstable and has issues, sometimes fixed in ~arch. ~arch can be more stable than stable. That being said having been bit recently by a udev update that wanted a file from /usr/lib, which I have on lvm, so it broke udev and booting on ~arch. I reverted back, I did not file a bug. Maybe the core profile/base system is maintained as stable and not, and all the rest, packages are not stable or unstable, They are masked or not. Things like tool chain, and base system should be stable. Beyond that up to a package maintainer to mask or not. Masking new stuff is underused. It seems odd that upstream will release a package. Just for downstream to consider it not stable. Did it get messed up during packaging? Did it get messed up by the distro? The whole lag thing does not make sense for Gentoo. Sooner released and tested on Gentoo. Sooner bugs can be founded, reported back to upstream, etc. Speeds up development. That is Gentoo's role in FOSS IMHO. There are other distros if you want rock solid stability all the way through with minimal effort. Though ever system admin I know has changed their personal distro a few times due to one issue or another. Even ones who work for vendors who sell Linux, and they carry 2 laptops. While I remain on Gentoo, but telling them to avoid Gentoo. Many ran it before and did not put in the effort. Not why I tell them to avoid. Gentoo should get back to having the latest of all packages, and testing integration. It is more a development distro, than mission critical deployment. That possible and it can be rock solid for mission critical uses. If the administrators make it such. Gentoo is as stable as YOU make it!!!! -- William L. Thomson Jr.
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