Linux Distros

What is the best Distro to run and why?

Really, I'd like to know why many of you hate Ubuntu so much. I've been using it for a long time now and it does everything I need, giving me an easy-to-use secure Linux distribution that ``just works". What exactly do you believe I'm missing out on? Is the much-heralded "Gentoo" really worth compiling everything from source for?

I've been reading and trying to go through Linux From Scratch (LFS) to learn more about linux, but after I learn about all of that, does it really matter if I use Ubuntu or not? How fast do you really need an average computer these days to go, and is the little bit of extra speed really worth it?

tl;dr
Best Linux Distro, and why. Is the Optimization really that important?

Also, as a sidenote: any advice on customizing Linux with certain additions and tweaks (like RatPoison as I've heard mentioned before) would be great. What are some really useful tools that aren't already given?

easy to use yes.
secure hell no.
What you are missing is unix knowledge (which you won't get from gentoo anyway)
You don't have control with ubuntu, that's the main problem.
It also encourages people to avoid reading manuals and references (which is a bad thing for IRC faggots)

(like RatPoison as I've heard mentioned before) would be great. What are some really useful tools that aren't already given?
Customizing with ratpoison? What kind of faggot are you?
ratpoison is a window manager, like your gnome.
try xmonad, it rocks. or that common lisp WM.