[[File:Gentoo Logo Vector.svg|thumb|Gentoo Linux's old vector logo]]
Gentoo Linux was initially created by [[Daniel Robbins (computer programmer)|Daniel Robbins]] as the ''Enoch Linux'' distribution. TheIts goal[[design philosophy]] was tothat create a distribution withoutof precompiled binaries thatwhich waswere tuned to the hardware and that only included required programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p1.xml|title=Gentoo Linux Documentation – Making the distribution, Part 1|date=2005-10-09|website=Gentoo.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126223839/http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p1.xml|archive-date=November 26, 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-01-28|df=mdy-all}}</ref> At least one version of Enoch was distributed under that name: version 0.75, in December 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/enoch/enoch-0.75 |title=Planet Mirror – enoch – Enoch Linux – enoch-0.75 – download now |website=Public.planetmirror.com |date=2007-02-11 |access-date=2010-01-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228085838/http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/enoch/enoch-0.75 |archive-date=December 28, 2008 |df=mdy}}</ref>
Daniel Robbins and the other contributors experimented with a fork of [[GNU Compiler Collection|GCC]] known as EGCS, developed by [[Cygnus Solutions]]. AtIt was at this point, that "Enoch" was renamed "Gentoo" Linux. The modifications to EGCS eventually became part of the official GCC (version 2.95),; Gentoo and other Linux distributionsdistros benefited experiencedfrom similar speed increases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p2.xml|title=Gentoo Linux Documentation – Making the distribution, Part 2|date=2005-10-09|website=Gentoo.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126223839/http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p2.xml|archive-date=November 26, 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-01-28|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
After problems with a bug on his own system, Robbins halted Gentoo development and switched to [[FreeBSD]] for several months, later saying, "I decided to add several FreeBSD features to make our autobuild system (now called Portage) a true next-generation ports system."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p3.xml|title=Gentoo Linux Documentation – Making the distribution, Part 3|date=2005-10-09|website=Gentoo.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126223839/http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/articles/making-the-distro-p3.xml|archive-date=November 26, 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-01-28|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
