Best optimization
 

A long time ago, I used Gentoo (among many other distros). I was impressed by the optimization specific to my pc. Now I don't see Gentoo mentioned in any top 10 searches. I did see Arch mentioned for optimization. In your opinion, which current distro offers the best optimation for pcs based on existing hardware as well as need (e.g., desktop, server, gaming, business, etc)?

Thank you.

What I believe is that any Gnu/Linux distro can be tweaked for optimization according to taste.

If you need truly optimal and compatible to hardware limitations by default install try Absolute Linux or Salix.

Hope it helps.

The easiest distro to do what you want is still Gentoo. Distrowatch rankings and other ranking sites are a poor reflection of actual user stats. Gentoo is still pretty much solid, and easier to use than it was thanks to newer features like autounmask and blocked package handling.

That said, if you're system is very new, it will probably be fast enough in any distro you run. Where I really notice Gentoo optimization is on my netbook, and an older core2 system. The latter was only able to play 1080p fluid on Gentoo. Other distros would choke.

You can always optimize specific packages in other distros, and compile your own kernel. But if you're doing that a lot, Gentoo is just easier to do those things in.

If you don't want to compile the whole system, you could try Calculate Linux out. It will give you a quick system with a desktop of your choice, but you still have portage there and you can optimize only specific packages and use binaries for everything else.