Gentoo is a FreeBSD or Linux-based operating system that can be customized or optimized automatically for almost any application. It is characterized by remarkable performance, high configurability and integrated user and developer community making it a “metadistribution”. With Portage technology, Gentoo develops its potential as a development workstation, gaming system, secure server, professional desktop, embedded solution or other functionalities that you need it to be. It is also a community built around a distribution called the Gentoo project that provides enjoyment to its users through infrastructure such as sites, forums, mailing lists, etc., documentation, quality assurance, release engineering, software porting, hardening, security follow up and more. A 7-member Gentoo council is elected yearly to discuss global issues for the development of the Gentoo project. Portage is the software distribution for Gentoo. To update your Gentoo software, you type this command: emerge --sync. This will command Portage to update your local Portage tree through the Internet. The Portage Tree contains the complete collection of scripts [Portage is written completely in Bash and Python language scripts.] used by Portage to install and create the latest Gentoo packages. Packages often refer to the software made available to you through your Portage tree. The collection of scripts is also referred to as the collection of ebuilds [files that contain all data Portage needs to maintain the software]. When Portage performs an operation for your software, the ebuilds in your Portage tree serve as base. It is important to update your ebuilds regularly. Your Portage tree is usually updated through rsync, an incremental file transfer application.