On Linux, compared to a release build,'is_official_build=true' turns on LTO, which makes the first link take several minutes on a fast machine and produces a faster binary. It requires LLD and some patches if you want to use system libraries (see arch's "ebuild" https://git.archlinux.org/svntogit/packages.git/tree/trunk/PKGBUILD?h=packages/chromium ). Additionally it may be useful to have an use flag to disable debugging with these flags: symbol_level strip_debug_info sanitizer_no_symbols blink_symbol_level and to build with ' link_pulseaudio=true ' when the pulseaudio flag is set.