Renewed interest in deriving gravity (more precisely, the Einstein equations) from thermodynamics Considerations is stirred up by a recent proposal that ‘gravity is an entropic force’. Even though I find the arguments justifying such a claim in this latest proposal rather ad hoc and simplistic compared to the original one I would unreservedly support the call to explore deeper the relation between gravity and thermodynamics, this having the same spirit as my long-held view that general relativity is the hydrodynamic limit of some underlying theories for the microscopic structure of spacetime - all these proposals, together with that of, attest to the emergent nature of gravity. In this talk I summarize the content of a recent paper studying the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of classical matter, bringing afore some interesting prior results, without invoking any quantum considerations such as Bekenstein - Hawking entropy, holography or Unruh effect. This is for the sake of understanding the nonequilibrium nature of classical gravity which is at the root of many salient features of black hole physics. One important property of gravitational systems, from self-gravitating gas to black holes, is their negative heat capacity, which is the source of many out-of-the ordinary dynamical and thermodynamic features such as the non-existence in isolated systems of thermodynamically stable configurations, which actually provides the condition for gravitational stability. A related property is that, being systems with long range interaction, they are nonextensive and relax extremely slowly towards equilibrium. Here we explore how much of the known features of black hole thermodynamics can be derived from this classical nonequilibrium perspective. A sequel paper will explore the theme “gravity and nonequilibrium thermodynamics of quantum fields”.