Kernel

The Linux kernel is the core of the operating system and offers an interface for programs to access the hardware. The kernel contains most of the device drivers.

Installation
To create a kernel, it is necessary to install the kernel source code first. The Gentoo recommended kernel sources for a desktop system are, of course,. These are maintained by the Gentoo developers, and patched to fix security vulnerabilities, functional problems, as well as to improve compatibility with rare system architectures.

Before installing, check the active USE flags:

Now install :

There are various alternative kernel sources in the Portage tree:


 * - The official, non-patched Linux kernel sources. Note that because they are left as is, and do not contain any additional patches, they are not supported by Gentoo developers.


 * A full list with short descriptions can be found by searching with emerge:



Guides

 * Kernel sources overview: Guide explaining the various kernel source flavors Gentoo provides.


 * Manual configuration: Manual configuration enables the user, with some effort, to create a custom-fit kernel configuration.


 * Kernel Seeds:Like the option above, Kernels Seeds help the user, with some effort, create a custom-fit kernel configuration using an existing as a base.


 * Automatic configuration: genkernel is a tool to automatically configure and setup a kernel. The drivers needed for a system are detected and loaded at boot time.


 * Gentoo Kernel Configuration Guide: Gentoo's kernel configuration guide.


 * Upgrade: Steps to upgrade to a new kernel using an existing configuration.


 * Removal: Steps to completely remove old kernels.


 * 2.4 to 2.6 Migration: Migration guide from Linux 2.4 to Linux 2.6.

External resources

 * Blogs related to the Linux kernel at planet.kernel.org/
 * Kernel statistics at kernelhub.org/
 * Torvalds' kernel git source repository hosted at github.com/