Although most ebuilds found in the Gentoo Portage repository are used to compile programs from source code, there are also ebuilds to install binary packages, ebuilds that install only documentation or data such as fonts, and basic ebuilds called "metabuilds" whose sole purpose is to trigger the installation of other ebuilds (such as the GNOME or KDE metabuilds).
Aínda que a maioría dos ebuilds atopados no depósito de Gentoo Portage utilízanse en para compilar programas en código fonte, hai tamén ebuilds para instalar paquetes binarios, o ebuilds que instalan soamente a documentación ou datos tales como fontes, e ebuilds básicos, chamados "metabuilds", que permiten a instalación doutros ebuilds (tales como os metabuilds do GNOME ou de KDE).