Joe Peterson wrote:
> The problem with a simple echo is that no "*" appears on the left to
> maintain continuity with the rest of the output - and in a color that
> makes sense in the context (maybe this isn't a "problem" - it depends on
> whether that visual continuity is desired).

The far biggest problem of echo is IMHO that it's not part of the elog 
framework, which means you will see only it if you are watching the 
thing build. But it won't be processed by anything else set in 
PORTAGE_ELOG_SYSTEM, for example the "echo" system which reprints all 
gathered elog stuff from all built packages when emerge finishes, and 
which I find very useful. Absence of newlines there makes that however 
often hardly readable.

Using elog commands instead of plain echo helps this, but as you 
mentioned, could be done better. So I'm also for some *unified* way to 
specify separators in elog commands. I would prefer something that 
doesn't add extra lines to ebuild. So how bout some switch to elog 
commands that adds extra newline after the message, might look better 
than wltjr's "" proposal. There could be also switch to add newline 
before the message but I can't think of a use for it myself.
The question is how to name the switch :) "-n" could be confusing as 
"echo -n" has the opposite effect. Maybe "-b" for "blank"?

-- 
Vlastimil Babka (Caster)
Gentoo/Java