this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
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Trying out Gentoo shortly. Any advice for a smooth(er) sailing? (piefed.blahaj.zone)
submitted 4 months ago by akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I have been using Arch with systemd for some years now and I would like to try out Gentoo in order to learn OpenRC and get used to manually controlling the system with config files instead of having it all served on a silver platter with some *ctl command as per systemd.

I have read the installation guide for x86_64 systems two times now, and in the following week, I would like to try installing a minimal system (no graphical stuff).

Any advice from people that already use Gentoo? Especially things that they wish they knew before trying for the first time? Like, what not to waste time on initially? For example, to simply get an Arch system up and running, I didn't have to learn how to write unit files, but I accidentally wasted a week on that before just enjoying my system first. 😅

A few of my own thoughts:

  1. How much time and effort should I put into fine tuning the global USE flags if my initial goal is to get a system up and running?
  2. With systemd, I enable --nowed that which I wanted to "autostart" (iptables and sshd, for instance). Is there an equally intuitive counterpart with OpenRC?

Thanks in advance! 🐧

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[–] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Cool! That sounds quite straightforward. 😊 I guess at the very least I'll single out my graphic drivers (Intel)? 🤔 I wonder though, how much space and processing power can one actually save with USE flags. Like, if one were to really "squeeze" them for optimization. 😆

[–] arran4@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months ago

I would like to know too. But I guess it really depends on a per app level b/c of libraries, frameworks, and languages/runtimes.

[–] nyan@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I guess at the very least I’ll single out my graphic drivers (Intel)?

You shouldn't need to concern yourself about this until you're looking to install X or wayland (at which time you'll want to put VIDEO_CARDS="intel i915" or similar in make.conf—read the wiki to see which drivers match your specific chipset; my example stanza is for a Kaby Lake system). The basic drivers should autoload unless you compiled a custom kernel and left them out by mistake.

[–] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 months ago

Thanks! I was getting ahead of myself a little...