Re: [gentoo-amd64] Change Install Prefix

[Drake Donahue]

On Thu, 2009-04-30 at 21:09 +0200, Justin wrote:
> Frank Peters wrote:
> > Is there a way, aside from writing a custom ebuild script, of changing
> > the install prefix for a package?  What I want to do is install some
> > packages under /usr/local or /opt rather than the default of /usr.
> > Unless I am mistaken, there does not seem to be a way of doing this
> > with either portage variables or with portage profiles.
> >
> > Using the ROOT variable is not feasible because the resulting
> > emerge will create an independent tree of packages.  I just want
> > to shift some packages out of /usr without losing any dependency
> > or linking information.
> >
> > Linux is a flexible system in that it will allow libraries, include
> > files, and configure information to be stored in a variety of places
> > without losing any interaction.  Modification of PATH, PKG_CONFIG_PATH,
> > CPPFLAGS, LDFLAGS, and other variables as well as the /etc/ld.so.conf
> > file will keep a system integrated no matter where things are stored.
> > Yet, unless I am missing something, Gentoo does not seem to embody this
> > same flexibility, at least not in a simple manner.  All packages have
> > to go under /usr only.
> >
> > Is this actually the case or is there a way to change the installation
> > prefix?
> >
> > Frank Peters
> >
> perhaps you like to go with a prefixed portage:
> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/prefix/
>
>From http://linuxreviews.org/gentoo/ebuilds/

Make a folder where you will store your own ebuilds 

mkdir -p /usr/local/portage

and set that folder in /etc/make.conf: 

PORTDIR_OVERLAY=/usr/local/portage

The folder structure in your overlay folder should be the same as found
in /usr/portage.