[gentoo-user] pre-emerge steps

[Michael P. Soulier]

Having just been bitten by some of my hardware being abandoned with the latest
version of a software package I am left to question the entire philosophy in
gentoo of always running bleeding edge. Not touching a system that's working
is becoming far more tempting, and I'm curious as to what others here have to
say about that.

Part of the point of running Linux for me is to save money and run older
hardware, but that doesn't work if the latest versions of the software that I
like to use abandons that hardware.

What do the rest of you do in preparation for regular upgrades? On BSD there
was a /usr/ports/UPDATING file that I should check for notes on potential
problems with upgrades before performing them. What's the best way to check if
picking up a newer package could break my system? Ideally a way that isn't
prohibitively time-consuming...

Thanks,
Mike
-- 
Michael P. Soulier <msoulier@×××××××××××××.ca>
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a
touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
--Albert Einstein