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 you have to install the kernel source code. The recommend kernel sources for a desktop system at Gentoo Linux are. These are maintained by the Gentoo developers and patched, to fix security vulnerabilities or functional problems and to improve compatibility with rare system architectures.

Before installing check the active USE flags. The USE flags of gentoo-sources are:


 * deblob - Remove binary blobs from kernel sources to provide free software compliance.


 * build - (Not recommended) Only for creating stages. Never set this USE flag yourself.


 * symlink - Sets the /usr/src/linux symlink for these kernel sources.

Now install gentoo-sources:

Alternative the Portage tree has more kernel sources:


 * - The unchanged kernel sources by Linus Torvald. Because these kernel sources will not be changed by the Gentoo developers, they are not offering support for such kernels.


 * To get a full list with short descriptions, search with emerge:

genkernel: automatic configuration and setup
genkernel is a tool to automatically configure and setup a kernel. The needed drivers for your system are detected and loaded at boot time. See the genkernel article.

Manual configuration and setup
This the perceived silver bullet and enables you with quiet some effort to create a custom-fit kernel configuration. See:


 * kernel configuration


 * kernel upgrade

Removing
See the kernel removal article.

Links

 * kernel komepage