Unix like Operating systems make for great learning tools.

[cohumat]

As we al l know it's the norm that ninety-nine percent of the time you don't actually need to compile software packages from sources accept if you want to educate you self or there are specific features that are recompiled pkg doesn't have.

Another reason for custom compiling software is to prune out non essential features, or to learn how to debug poorly written build scripts and gain a further understanding of what happens under the hood This is why I love the Unix like operating systems