Re: [gentoo-catalyst] libxml2 python and gnome-doc-utils

[Chris Gianelloni]

On Wed, 2007-03-28 at 16:29 +0000, Nelson Batalha wrote:
> I don't know python, but I'm just curious why doesn't catalyst, in this
> stage, just export variables like $target/use to their default locations
> like make.conf and use portage as normal? (therefore correcting this issue)
> (just asking, not suggesting :P).

That is essentially what we're going to do.  The problem is that there
are certain situations where we don't want the changes made to "stick"
in the make.conf and possibly break it or pollute it.  We also have to
work out quite a few other things that are being done in the
environment, rather than in the configurations.  As I said, it's an
enormous undertaking and not something to be taken lightly.  We will
likely be completely breaking catalyst when we do this, so we're waiting
until we branch to 2.1 before touching it.

> What else is it doing at this stage other then exporting variables and call
> emerge, that requires this change in portage? Wouldn't catalyst and the
> livecd's be easier to maintain like this?

Huh?

Portage has nothing to do with it.  The problem is that environment
trumps all, and catalyst uses the environment.  It's as simple as that.
The fix, however, is not simple and not something I would accept at this
point, even if someone else wrote a *perfect* patch for it, since it
changes how catalyst behaves in a manner which I would prefer save for
the next minor release, rather than a point release.

-- 
Chris Gianelloni
Release Engineering Strategic Lead
Alpha/AMD64/x86 Architecture Teams
Games Developer/Council Member/Foundation Trustee
Gentoo Foundation