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The spine of your machine.
Keru is a Linux distribution — but "Linux" is a family, and the kernel is genuinely a choice: freshness vs stability, hardening vs performance, general-purpose vs tuned. Keru ships the choice, not the verdict.
The default. Stock mainline — the broad, well-trodden baseline that matches the ecosystem.
The long-term-supported line. Slower-moving, security-patched, built for stability and long installs.
Hardening patches on top of the kernel — hardened allocator, stronger exploit mitigations.
A performance-tuned kernel with scheduler and allocator tweaks; built for responsiveness.
Community kernel focused on desktop and multimedia performance — faster, more adventurous.
To be clear about the scope: the freedom here is within Linux — which Linux kernel, not whether to leave the family. Keru composes everything above the kernel however you like; the kernel itself has a well-tested set of variants to pick from. More on what Keru's freedom does and doesn't cover.
Stage 2 of the build compiles the exact kernel you chose and wires your init to boot it. The kernel, the init, and everything else is one coherent profile — nothing prebaked, nothing to fight.