GNOME/GNOME without systemd/Dantrell



This article provides brief instructions for using GNOME (3.14 onwards) under OpenRC (rather than ) in Gentoo, via Dantrell B.'s patchset, on either the X11 or Wayland platforms.

For an alternative (-based) approach (3.30 onwards) that does not require overlays, please see this page.

Introduction
Dantrell B., the primary author of the Funtoo GNOME patchset, has made his work available for Gentoo users via a set of overlays (custom ebuild repositories).

These overlays enable the full GNOME experience (including session tracking and power management) to be enjoyed when booted under, even on a PC running 'stable branch' Gentoo.

This brief guide outlines the steps needed to get GNOME up and running under his patchset.

Prerequisites
It is assumed that:
 * following completion of the normal "Installing Gentoo" process from the official Handbook, a stock, , or  Gentoo system is running, with working internet access etc.
 * at least one 'regular' (non-root) user has already been set up;
 * the kernel and file has been prepared for X-server installation ( VIDEO_CARDS and INPUT_DEVICES variables set), as described here. While the X-server itself does not have to actually be installed prior to emerging GNOME, this is recommended (since X-related problems are some of the most commonly encountered);
 * if targeting Wayland, an appropriate Direct Rendering Manager ('DRM') kernel driver has been installed (see e.g. these notes for further details);
 * a UTF-8 locale has been selected (as described here).

Setting global USE flags
If the USE flag is set in, it is recommended to unset it now, to avoid issues with ,  and dependencies later.

If it is desired to install GNOME on Wayland (rather than the default X11), then add  to the global USE flags, in  (note that it will still be possible to log in to an old-school GNOME-on-X11 session when needed, even when Wayland is used). It is recommended to use >= GNOME-3.24 where is used (if running it with earlier versions of GNOME, the additional global USE flags   must also be specified).

To disable GNOME's tracker software (this is optional), add  to the global USE flags in.

Then, ensure everything is up-to-date, before proceeding further:

Installing the overlays
There are three main ways to install Dantrell B.'s overlays:
 * 1) eselect repository;
 * 2) layman; or
 * 3) add them directly (requires version >= 2.2.16 of ).

Option 1: Installation under eselect repository
First, ensure and  are installed:

Then configure and sync the repository:

Finally, add the desired GNOME 'version' overlay(s); if using the 'stable' (amd64) branch, it is probably best to use the one which matches the current stable gnome-base/gnome in Gentoo (version 3.24, at the time of writing).

For version nn of GNOME 3, issue:

Substitute for nn in the above, with one of 14 thru 32: as a concrete example, for GNOME 3.24, issue:

Option 2: Installation under layman
To install the overlays, first emerge and configure, as detailed here, with the  USE flag enabled (it is by default).

Then, edit the stanza of  so it reads:

Sync the overlay metadata, and add the 'generic' GNOME overlay:

Next, add the desired GNOME 'version' overlay(s); if using the 'stable' branch, it is probably best to use the one which matches the current stable  in Gentoo (version 3.24, at the time of writing).

For version nn of GNOME 3, issue:

Substitute for nn in the above, with one of 14 thru 30: as a concrete example, for GNOME 3.24, issue:

Note that it is fine to add multiple version overlays here (e.g., 3-24, 3-26 etc.), as the profile &mdash; which will be selected shortly &mdash; will decide which takes precedence.

Option 3: Direct installation
Under modern (>= 2.2.16) versions of, it isn't necessary to use layman &mdash; overlays can instead be added directly.

Begin by ensuring a directory is in place:

Next, create configuration files for Dantrell B.'s external ebuild repositories (aka, overlays). At the time of writing there are eleven such repos: a 'common' one, and one for each of GNOME 3.14, 3.16, ... 3.32. Create the following file for the 'common' overlay:

Next, create the desired GNOME 'version' overlay configuration file(s), as shown below; if using the 'stable' branch, create at least the one which matches the current stable  in Gentoo (version 3.24, at the time of writing).

For example, for GNOME 3.14, create the following file:

The above can actually be used as a basis to create the other (3.16 &rarr; 3.32) variants, rather than entering them manually. To do so, issue:

Note that it is fine to have multiple versions installed, as the profile &mdash; which will be selected shortly &mdash; will decide which takes precedence.

Next, install git (if not already present):

Then sync everything:

Setting the profile, and updating
Dantrell's overlays provide a bundled set of profiles. By using one of these, appropriate USE flags, masks etc. are set automatically, to ensure that installation proceeds smoothly. For any of the GNOME releases (3.14, 3.16, ... 3.32) it is possible to choose a 'standard' or 'extended' profile (and, at the time of writing, a 13.0 or 17.0 profile for each of those, giving a total of four profiles per GNOME version). The 'extended' variants have more USE flags enabled by default, to yield a similar experience to the familiar profiles in Gentoo.

Select an appropriate profile now (at the time of writing, users on the "stable" branch are probably safest sticking to one of the 3.14 - 3.24 profiles (although, for reference, 3.32 will build under );  users may use whichever they choose):

(The numbering etc. on the output on any given target machine may well differ from the above, and of course only profiles corresponding to overlays installed overlays will be displayed.)

With the desired profile set, re-emerge, to pick up the new USE flags, default packages etc.

The various dependencies for GNOME without are now installed automatically, either as part of the above @world update under the custom profile (e.g.,  and  (for <= GNOME 3.22) /  (for >= GNOME 3.24)) or during the  emerge to follow shortly (e.g.,  and ); nothing further needs to be emerged at this stage.

Preparing USE Flags Prior to GNOME Emerge
If there are any additional applications which it is desired to install as part of the GNOME emerge, set their USE flags now, as follows:

For example, to add the epiphany browser to the default set of installed applications, do:

There are some additional GNOME 'quality of life' improvements in Dantrell's patchset (background resolution etc.), which are controlled by USE flags on certain packages. The defaults will probably be suitable for most users, but for more details please see here.

Emerging GNOME
GNOME itself may now be emerged! Issue:

Assuming that completes successfully, it is still important to check that the necessary X11 drivers have been properly emerged: often, they will not have been, particularly if it proved necessary to run the step more than once (due to build parallelism errors). To make sure, issue:

Configuring and running GNOME
Once GNOME is emerged, change the DISPLAYMANGER value in the configuration file, so that the gdm display manager is used:

Leave the rest of the file as-is.

Then set, , and  to come up on boot, and disable  if using it:

If targeting X11 (rather than Wayland) and using < GNOME 3.24, issue:

Otherwise, if targeting Wayland, or using >= GNOME 3.24 issue:

Next, check if the machine has a group, and, if it does, add any regular users to it:

Similarly, to allow regular users to play GNOME games (assuming these have been installed), add them to the group:

To allow the use of direct rendering, issue:

Finally, start up GNOME!

A GNOME login screen should now be visible (and this will also come up automatically on boot). On some machines, it may be necessary to move the mouse or press a key, for the login screen to appear.

Usage
For more information about the GNOME interface (which is generally self-explanatory), see https://gnome.org. Some additional useful setup tips about GNOME may also be found here.

Removal
To remove GNOME, begin by unmerging it:

or

Remove all of the project overlays. For example, if using :

Switch profile; for example:

Update :

Clean dependencies:

Prevent unnecessary services starting up automatically; e.g.:

Add (if required, in the absence of ):

Finally, reboot the system to complete the uninstall (to a textual login, in this case).

See also

 * Gentoo GNOME Project
 * GNOME Display Manager
 * Sakaki's Unofficial EFI Install Guide

External resources

 * Dantrell B.'s project homepage on GitHub
 * Dantrell B.'s support thread at Gentoo forums, part 1 and part 2.