Don't be sorry about trying to get more knowledge, as Linux users I think we should freely help each other. That's why Debian and Linux in general is so powerful, there are many people who devote time and energy to develop and foster the implementation of FOSS.

My hat goes off to anyone that can master gentoo! I've got a good understanding of slackware, but, gentoo users really know linux. I've tried gentoo before, but, haven't been successful with it.
Good luck with the gentoo install, man!

hopping on IRC isn't cheating - that's using resources. I personally don't do it, but that's because I find forums to be a better place for finding a lot of my answers, and I just never got into IRC.

Didn't mean to "give you an easy way out" with Arch, but the install for Gentoo seems overly complex to get a system that is comprable in speed to one whose install takes 20 minutes and whose end result teaches you quite a bit about linux as well.

I agree with hitest, Hats off if you can get Gentoo running properly. I've done it but it was no easy feat.

I don't think there is anything wrong with using IRC, its a very useful resource. As for Gentoo and Arch, I personally think that Gentoo offers more options for customisation and optimasation of your system than Arch. I've only had a few problems with Gentoo but I think its because I am quite used to FreeBSD from which Gentoo shares some of its roots and I used Slack for ages. For most users though, the installation process is a pain in the backside, but I would urge the adventurous to try it.

One thing I have noticed is that if you use Distros such as Debian, Arch, Slack etc that don't rely heavily on GUI installation routines and config tools you learn a lot about your Linux system and you will find it fairly easy to adapt to other distros or other Unix like OSes such as FreeBSD, Solaris etc. I think its essential though, to stick to one distro for a while so that you master the basics and once thats done, you can tinker with as many distros as you like.

Well here is my final post in this thread that wont die. I managed to give up on gentoo and go to ubuntu dapper with a lot of help I got xgl to work. Thanks for all of the support guys.