User:AllenJB/Handbook Profiles

Choosing the Right Profile
First, a small definition is in place.

A profile is a building block for any Gentoo system. Not only does it specify default values for CHOST, CFLAGS and other important variables, it also locks the system to a certain range of package versions. This is all maintained by the Gentoo developers.

To list the available profiles, run: eselect profile list

To show the currently selected profile, run: eselect profile show

There are 3 parts to each profile:
 * Target system type
 * Architecture
 * Sub-profile

Usually in the form: / /

The main profile targets are:
 * default/linux (recommended) - A normal linux install.
 * hardened - This profile is for users creating hardened systems. Please see the [hardened project documentation] for more information.
 * selinux - This profile is for users of (non-hardened) selinux based systems. You should only use this if you intend to use an selinux kernel. (For more information see )

If you're unsure, you most likely want the default/linux target.

Subprofiles allow the user to select the default set of use flags that will be enabled, tailored to the purpose of the install. Not all subprofiles are available on all architectures.

Use flags will be explained in detail later.

The main subprofiles are:
 * / - Main profile. Will have the fewest default use flags.
 * /desktop - Profile for desktop users. Enables common features of desktop systems, including multimedia and gui related (X, gtk, qt, gnome, kde) use flags.
 * /server - Profile for servers. Enables common server features (eg. web server integration)
 * /no-multilib (amd64 only) - Used only for non-multilib amd64 installs. Not recommended for new users. Please see the for more information.

Select the desired profile with the following command, replacing with the value shown in the profile list: eselect profile set