Gentoo Developers providing generic Linux kernel packages that do not require manual configuration of build options and are similar to the kernel packages provided in traditional binary distributions. As an example of a problem that occurs when using Gentoo's manual configuration of kernel parameters, there is a lack of a unified set of default options that guarantees functionality after an upgrade (with manual configuration, if the kernel does not boot or crashes, it is not clear whether the problem is due to incorrect setting parameters or with an error in the kernel itself).
The developers intend to provide a ready-made and obviously working kernel that can be installed
with minimal effort (like an ebuild built like other packages) and it will be automatically updated as part of regular system updates by the package manager (emerge --update @world). At present, based on the main kernel sources, the package "", which supplemented the previously available build script with a typical set of options . The vanilla-kernel package so far implies only building from source (proposed in the form ), but the possibility of forming binary assemblies of the kernel is also discussed.
Among the advantages of manually tuning the kernel, the possibility of fine tuning performance is mentioned, eliminating unnecessary components when assembling, reducing build time and reducing the size of the resulting kernel (for example, the kernel assembly from the author of the proposal takes 44 MB with modules, while the universal kernel takes 294 MB) . Among the shortcomings, it is possible to easily make a mistake when setting up, possible problems with updating, intolerance, difficulty in diagnosing problems. Shipping binary builds is considered because a generic kernel takes much longer to build due to its size, and shipping a prebuilt kernel can make life easier for users of low-powered systems.
Source: opennet.ru