Re: [gentoo-dev] Sets vs Meta ebuilds

[Walter Dnes]

On Sat, Jul 08, 2017 at 09:32:09PM -0400, William L. Thomson Jr. wrote
> On Sat, 8 Jul 2017 20:27:38 -0400
> "Walter Dnes" <waltdnes@××××××××.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Though I will have to see what happens if a package is listed in
> > > more than one set. I think there is a hierarchy there.
> >
> >   I tried "emerge -pv --unmerge @palemoon_build", and it was ready to
> > delete all the stuff, including gcc, etc.
>
> Did you get any warnings? Your about to remove a system package, etc.

  Yes, for gcc.

> If you are making sets, adding system packages, and removing those. I
> would assume you are doing that as some sort of testing. Which would
> want to re-emerge/install those packages. Depending on what your doing
> very likely would want to make and use binaries in that process. Surely
> if removing system packages :)

  Here's the problem... when I need some extra packages for a specific
project, I want them to be pulled in *IF NOT ALREADY PRESENT*.  If/when
I finish the project, I want to remove packages *THAT ARE NOT
DEPENDANCIES FOR OTHER PACKAGES I'M KEEPING*.  Using set terminology, as
in high school math, where
* A is the set of (packages I normally require) 
* B is the set of (requirements for project X)

...I want to end up with ( A union B )

If I ever finish the project and decide to unmerge the meta-set I only
want to unmerge...
( A union B ) - ( A )

  If / when I unmerge the meta-set, I want to only unmerge stuff that is
not part of (packages I normally require).  I do not want all members of
the set unmerged unconditionally, regardless of being dependancies for
packages I still have.

  This is where a meta-package is superior to a set.  I simply unmerge
the meta-package, and "emerge --ask --depclean".  If a meta-set item is
a dependancy of a package that I'll be keeping, it won't get removed.  I
do not want to risk removing a package that is needed elsewhere.  And 2
or 3 years later, I may have installed packages that have members of the
meta-set as a dependancy.  A meta-package removes the risk of shooting
myself in the foot.

> >   I deleted /etc/portage/sets/palemoon_build, and the entry
> > "@palemoon_build" from /var/lib/portage/world_sets.  It turns out
> > that all these packages are required anyways.
>
> Meaning little was removed after you did emerge --depclean world ?

  Nothing would've been removed.  Several months ago, the hicolor-icon
theme would've been removed.  But it has recently been added to the
ever-growing list of gtk dependancies.  GTK == GNOME Tool Kit,
regardless of what they officially call it.

  I only ran a "pretend" unmerge, to see what would happen if I did
unmerge the set.  As a precaution, I've decided to migrate over to a
meta-package.  As per Rich Freeman's recommendation, I'll go with
RDEPEND, and fill in optional descriptive fields in the meta-set.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications