Archi's Gentoo

How to use this repo

• git clone --recursive https://github.com/JustArchi/Gentoo
• ln -s files that you deem wanted/useful, consider cp only when you want to refrain from their further updates by me. I generally suggest symlinking standalone files, but folders are possible as well.

Overview

• ArchiPC includes stuff specific to my configuration, you may create your own while making use of mine for inspiration, but blindly copying anything from there most likely won't end good for you.
• intel includes stuff generic to all machines with Intel CPU. You don't want that stuff on AMD.
• systemd includes stuff generic to all machines with systemd init daemon. You don't want that stuff on OpenRC.
• universal includes universally good stuff. It may include stuff from other categories if I deem it as completely harmless, for example optional /etc/crypttab inclusion in dracut, despite being used solely by systemd.

Features

dracut

• hostonly, a VERY important part which makes cryptsetup on systemd a breeze, with not a single grub cmdline arg needed, on top of not embedding things that you don't need
• dm-crypt driver included, as despite crypt module, this one is not always included
• xz compression, arguments for xz same as kernel compression

env.d

• Disabled telemetry for dotnet

gentoo-kernel

I strongly advocate against wasting time maintaining your own kernel, while totally encouraging compilation and customization. This is why you can find a lot of parts here that further enhance gentoo-kernel package - parts that I classify as useful patches to adapt the kernel the way I want, without being forced to create a new config file with every minor release.

Instead of spending hours if not days creating your own kernel config (and usually still failing at it), I prefer "distribution config patching" approach instead, which allows you to patch the config prior to kernel compilation automatically based on your configuration, which instead results in maximum compatibility and customization, while still allowing distro maintainers to do their thing right and build minimal modular kernel for you to use. No, disabling all the modules won't make your kernel perform better, it'll only cut on compilation time - unused modules are not causing overhead. Distro configs are already very nicely optimized and only crucial stuff is marked as built-in.

• graysky's kernel patch for gentoo-kernel, this one is included with experimental USE flag for gentoo-sources, but no such feature for gentoo-kernel, sadly
• my own CFLAGS patch, which should be combined with gentooLTO overlay for the best results, requires gcc with graphite USE flag - highly experimental, works fine for me, but you've been warned
• automatic grub.cfg regeneration, triggers only if you're currently using grub.cfg, safe to include even on non-grub machines, should be offered by Gentoo itself
• -march=native for intel, requires graysky's kernel patch, otherwise is a no-op when applied, naturally you don't want that on AMD
• systemd target, naturally you don't want that on OpenRC
• Disabled io-delay, not needed for modern machines, use at your own risk
• xz compression, gives the best compression ratio and very good decompression speed, overall boots faster compared to gzip on my x64 machine
• Better responsiveness, includes PREEMPT and 1000 Hz interrupts
• lz4-optimized zram, lz4 is currently winning fastest decompression competition, it should be used instead of other alternatives such as lzo
• lz4-optimized zswap, as per above, and automatic enable of it, as I/O access is crucial