To a certain degree yes, but why oh why would you want that?? Given that we have those wonderful Debian package manager tools: apt, dpkg, Synaptic ...Giftmatcher wrote: Is this feature repoducible in MINT?
The point of those tools is that you don't have to mess around compiling your stuff yourself. If you had used Gentoo long enough and e.g. tried to compile more complex packages such as KDE, GNOME or OpenOffice you'd know what I mean: The computer produces nothing but hot air for 2+ days as it is totally busy compiling ...
On Debian-like distros you click on the relevant packages e.g. kubuntu-desktop .... and voila, a few minutes later you have your KDE.
This BS about having "optimised binaries" is just that: BS. Even if you apply really weird levels of optimisations to your compiler setup in Gentoo the differences and speed improvements are next to non-measurable and irrelevant for 99% of the Linux users out there.
The only aspect where Gentoo really shines is the fact that you can create an extremely super-slim and tuned-as-hell system, e.g. throw away all the surplus stuff you don't need (qt, gtk, alsa, etc.), tune your compiler to the max ... then apply some really scary kernel patches ("scary" in the sense: Totally bleeding edge, untested + experimental!) and maybe you will have one hell of a fast server ... which could be useful under certain special circumstances ...
But if you're after something like that then you should stay on Gentoo anyway and not use a distro like Mint.
To use an analogy: You're the kit car racer and car tuner who swapped his "construct-this-yourself" kit car (= Gentoo) for a super-duper comfortable "already-has-everything-you-might-ever-want" Toyota family van (= Mint): There is very little if not nothing to be tuned, newer Toyota cars come "as is" out of the factory with all the gadgets already installed, "ready to enjoy", "ready to drive" .... to all eternity if needs to be: If you treat your Toyota well it will never ever break down (just like Linux !!).
So what you're asking is this: Can I use my super-duper comfortable "stuffed-with-gadgets", "ready to enjoy", "ready to drive" Toyota family van to compete in dragster race, e.g. tune it to 900 hp and remove that family-friendly Diesel engine and replace it with a F-16 jet engine I bought from the US Air Force .... ?
Sure, you can ....
But people who do such stuff don't use Toyota family vans as basis for such constructions, wouldn't you agree?
To get back to Linux: Yes, sure, even on Mint (= that super-duper comfortable Toyota family van with all the gadgets preinstalled) you can compile everything if you want to .... It's just that if you really wanted to do that all the time then you probably should have stayed on Gentoo.