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Maciej Mrozowski posted on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:40:17 +0100 as excerpted: |
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> And I fail to see *any* point in forcing users to learn Gentoo internals |
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> (sic! like USE flags). What else? Ebuild syntax so that they're able to |
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> get to know what particular global USE flag is responsible for, when |
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> someone forgot (or decided not to) describe it in metadata.xml even when |
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> semantics is different? Maybe I sound too harsh here, but that's because |
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> I'm not ideologist - I'm practical man. |
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Actually, yes. Gentoo has never been a hand-holding distribution. We |
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try to provide documentation and reasonable defaults for any apps the |
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user chooses to install, and let the user configure what they will. |
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For some time I've wondered about all those profiles. IMO, for pure/ |
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normal USE flag issues, we don't need profiles. Profiles are for things |
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such as setting the arch, masking stuff that won't run on that arch, |
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doing the necessary to make multilib work as appropriate, setting up a |
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basic "system" set of packages, etc. |
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After that, it's upto[1] the user. USE flags are documented in the |
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handbook, and a major defining part of what makes Gentoo, Gentoo. If |
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they can't even manage to learn USE flag basics, honestly, they'd be |
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better off with a different distribution, probably something that does a |
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bit more hand-holding, like Ubuntu, because they're going thru a whole |
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lot of additional hassle compiling stuff, etc, for very little payoff in |
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practical terms, because they simply aren't using Gentoo as it was |
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designed to be used. |
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So IMO, few if any USE flags should be set in the profiles. That is, or |
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should be, upto the user to decide. In general, if a USE flag is not set |
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in a user's make.conf, it shouldn't be on, with few exceptions definitely |
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not at the system level, and with some exceptions, not at the individual |
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ebuild/pkg level either. |
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--- |
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[1] "Upto": Yeah, I know, but Wictionary already defines it as a "common |
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misspelling", so make it even more common and eventually it'll no longer |
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be a misspelling but considered normal and correct usage, just as into is |
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no longer a misspelling but normal and correct usage. |
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
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and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |