Sure, I remember 1999 (and I've built my own packages thousands of times since then, and still do a couple times a week, though mostly for my own software for d

Sure, I remember 1999 (and I've built my own packages thousands of times since then, and still do a couple times a week, though mostly for my own software for distribution). I understand the pain that older packages sometimes cause, but I think the notion that we should throw away good package management in exchange for...I'm not sure what exactly you're suggesting this new scheme provides, is a good trade. Gentoo is not a realistic option for most situations where you need stability over some length of time. I looked over GoboLinux, and I see they offer multiple versions of packages, and that's cool and all. There are repos that do the same for CentOS/RHEL; Software Collections Library is a very good one that is sponsored by Red Hat. And, there's stuff like Flatpak coming down the pike which allows packages to be bundled up in a container with everything it needs. One could argue that GoboLinux foresaw these needs (it's been around since 2002, apparently) and came up with a partial solution to the problem. I can't argue with that. But, it was, IMHO, so partial that it wasn't worth the trade. I'm not sure containers-as-packages are worth the trade in some cases, either, but it seems inevitable. So, I'm embracing it in my own work. It's definitely got some advantages. And, yes, Gentoo is crazy.