/ on zfs

[mrbassie]

Quiet day at the office so I decided to wipe lmde off my pc there (there was a liveusb lying around when I started) and try and install Gentoo on a zfs mirror. I used sysresccd to do the following: So far I've created a zpool that consists of two disc partitions (sda3 and 4) after a 20Mb jfs /boot and a 2Gb linux-swap partition (sda 1 and 2 respectively). I haven't compiled the kernel yet as I prefer to use lz4 compression and It was still compiling the deps inside the chroot when I left work.
Monday morning I'm bringing my kernel config, make.conf and package.use from my own computer at home rather than recreate from scratch.
I've already successfully created a similar zfs /home mirror on the now extinct aforementioned lmde installation and it's an effing cool fs.


So anyway I'd like to pose some questions to anybody who has done this or even pondered it:

Do I need an initramfs, if so why?

If I compile zfs-kmod etc. after compiling the kernel inside the chroot will I be able to load them at first boot? I assume not, therefore can I boot sysresccd or insert-name-of-live-image-here with a kernel on the hdd and then do it?

Might I encounter problems with swapping (refer to preamble)?

Is an fstab entry necessary? I've read that it is not, at least on other *nixes.

will I be able to boot with sys-boot/grub:0 as I don't like grub2?

Any recommendations or thoughts are welcome. I'll be reporting back on my progress or lack thereof here for any fellow semi-*nix-noobs who may be interested in trying it out.
I know it's been done already but the guide seems a little outdated as it requires an overlay and whatnot whilst zfs is now in portage proper. That and I like to muddle through with a little help from the community as I'll actually remember the how's and the why's and the d'you mind if I dont's, rather than reading guides etc. and not really understanding since I haven't made the mistakes and remedied them.

[Yamakuzure]