On 01/25/2010 02:02 AM, Dale wrote:

> Is there something that I am missing here?  For me, system should
> include the things needed for booting and for the package manager to
> work.  If it can't contain python then portage has a problem.  As I
> pointed out in another reply, portage won't let you unmerge itself but
> it will let you unmerge a package that will render portage useless.  If
> I can unmerge python then portage should just go ahead and let me
> unmerge portage itself too.  At least it is easier to repair removing
> portage.
> Dale
> 

Again let's try again so maybe you understand the issues here. You can
see the contents of the system set like this:

emerge --nodeps -epv @system (on Portage 2.2)

It doesn't have eselect-python:

pena portage-trunk # emerge --nodeps -epv @system | grep eselect-python
pena portage-trunk #

You must differentiate between the @system set and what you think of as
"system packages". The set should for maintenance reasons reflect it's
true purpose. Again you can file a bug for Portage to warn about
removing it's deps and Portage maintainers can see if it's feasibly doable.

Another thing we should consider is writing a news item educating users
how to use Portage properly these days. At least ACCEPT_LICENSE and
--depclean need attention.

Regards,
Petteri