the process was actually quite easy, i am impressed. the issue comes with VERY LONG compile times. having to wait around a whole week for it to finish grinding code before i could begin using it was somewhat frustrating.

  • RussianEngineer [she/her]
    hexagon
    ·
    3 years ago

    you get to pick and choose the features that are compiled into an application via gentoo's USE flags. normal OSs that distribute pre-compiled binaries enable everything for maximum compatibility. but if you dont need a feature or extension, it only is bloat that lengthens its startup time.

    you also get to use your own compiler flags and optimizations instead of the packager's, i can tell my compiler exactly what CPU to optimize for, what size/performance ratio i get in the end, any hardening, and other various GCC things.

    and, if you are a schizophrenic like me you have the option to manually review any code before its compiled and installed, just to make sure no NSA backdoors are being added in

    since i started booting with my customized gentoo kernel, my laptop has been booting even faster then arch linux on my main PC with an nvme drive, since i can just omit any kernel features or drivers i dont need. its pretty crazy.