Coming soon
The reasons
Gentoo is the one GNU/Linux distribution that was initially inspired from BSD.
Arch followed the same path except with binary packages, until in 2012 it moved to systemd;
systemd's authors have the wrong mindset, and plan to phagocyte the FOSS ecosystem with sloppy code that purposedly forces other software to use non-standard, unstable interfaces.
This carelessness has consequences, notably regarding security, but will not get fixed unless you fix it.
The thing is, not everybody wants to compile all day, so the ostritch approach still wins, and we keep using Arch anyway, because it's convenientâ„¢ (or not).
What if using Gentoo didn't mean you have to compile everything?
The idea
Distributed: sharing of binaries via bittorrent, and a PGP-based web of trust like Arch.
Multi-builds: share your packages with the compile-time options you like.
We'll get many builds for one package; others can pick the one they prefer.
Several builds with the same compile-time options can be submitted: others can choose the build they trust the most.
If we ever get reproducible builds, everyone can sign the same build and you don't really have to choose.
USE recommendations: 100% optional, they will help with package reusability when used.
Most often you don't need to tune USE flags, so these recommendations are what you need.
Standardized: a mandatory value for the CFLAGS for packages you share: -march=x86_64/i686/armv{5te,6,7,8} -mtune=generic
Automatic: portage and a helper script take care of the package sharing. Seed if you can.
Additional packages: pactoo will offer out-of-the-box kernels and other tools.
Expendable: pactoo is not a distribution, it's an effort to reduce the burden of compilation. What you're using is really Gentoo, and you're not bound in any way to pactoo.
Let's do it
Have ideas for the design? They're welcome on #pactoo on Libera.Chat.
Interested in using this? Cool! But it's not made yet, check back on it later.
Pactoo aims to provide the option of a quick-to-build and systemd-free environment, simply by using Gentoo.