Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: trupanka@×××××.com
To: gentoo-dev@l.g.o
Subject: [gentoo-dev] Need clear semantics for packages with binary entities
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 18:24:31
Message-Id: 20151228182414.GB4303@web
1 I’m suffering from the fact that users can distinguish packages containing
2 binaries just by eye. There is no mechanism to allow/ignore such packages.
3 For license restrictions we have ‘package.license/’ whitelist.
4
5 I figure out the following binary entities in portage’s packages
6 that (to my point of view) need to be clearly defined as BINARY:
7 1. *-bin packages (maven-bin, icedtea-bin)
8 2. firmware packages (linux-firmware)
9 3. purely binary packages that are installed without any notion
10 they are binary or source packages just like Ubuntu’s ones
11 (app-office/upwork)
12 4. packages with pre-compiled bytecode/objectcode that are installed
13 like packages in #3.
14 (geogebra, many packages with .jar files in dev-java/*)
15 5. packages with ‘-binary’ USE-flag. Semantics of ‘-binary’ differs:
16 (seabios) binary : Use official upstream pre-built binaries
17 (ghc) binary : Install the binary version directly, rather than
18 using it to build the source version.
19 (scala) binary : Install from (Gentoo-compiled) binary instead of
20 building from sources. Set this when you run out of memory during build.
21 (etc...)
22 6. packages that need binaries to compile/bootstrap (sbcl)
23 7. to be continued... I guess
24
25 #1 semantics has no control. Such packages may be installed as a
26 dependency
27 without warnings they are binaries.
28 #5 semantics are not clear (defined in manifest.xml)
29
30 The only binary entities under users’ control are:
31 1. packages from “PKGDIR” installed with ‘emerge --usepkg’
32 2. packages with -binary USE-flag
33
34 I wonder if Gentoo’s devs can do something with the problem.
35 I think it’s problem in source-based Linux distribution.

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