Gentoo can be a way to learn more than you ever wanted to about Linux. You'll have to learn more than just the basics though to get this beast going, you'll learn much more about setup than you would with Debian or other easier distros.
That said, I'm contemplating changing to Fedora. My goal is a MythTV box, and it feels like Gentoo lags behind on MythTV and driver support. I got a pcHDTV3000 card that I can't figure out how to make work on Gentoo, even with advice in Gentoo forums. I've now learned more than I ever wanted to about Linux, and I've reached the point that now I just want to be able to _use_ it, not be forced to perpetually try and outsmart it every time an emerge update goes bad. (an emerge update in January wasted the thing so that KDE hangs on loading after login, even after numerous KDE/x11 re-install attempts since then)
