Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Jorge Morais <please.no.spam.here@×××××.com>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] ARGH I uninstalled python
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 12:26:04
Message-Id: 20090527092958.7bc51eb8@gmail.com
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-user] ARGH I uninstalled python by Jon Hardcastle
1 On Wed, 27 May 2009 01:32:13 -0700 (PDT)
2 Jon Hardcastle <jd_hardcastle@×××××.com> wrote:
3
4 >
5 > I'd hope that if anyone else comes a cropper by this then at least this conv will help them! But I was EXPECTING portage to not let me do something that would stop the 'solution' (and that is what it is whether at the portage or the gentoo level) working.
6
7 I hope you solve everything. Anyway there is something you should have
8 learned: think before acting, and do not rely on safeguards. They were
9 meant to diminish the damage if you get into problems, not to be counted
10 on as if they were normal functionality.
11
12 In terms of computer usage, do never perform a task without reading
13 documentation and understanding what you are doing.
14
15 You should have realized that Python is a core component of the system
16 and that one needs great care when messing with core components.
17 And specifically, it is *not* safe to remove a component "just for a
18 small time" (this is not the first time I've seen this). For a normal
19 component you have to, at least, ensure the component is not currently
20 in use and will not be needed during the period it will be absent.
21 For a core component you should be far more careful. And normally
22 you don't have to mess with it at all.
23
24 And after your first mistake you continued to make others.
25 The instructions in that blog were not quite good. After a little
26 time searching the forums I found the tinderbox solution - which
27 is far simpler and cleaner. Also, the person recommending the solution
28 has some credibility (being a site administrator for the Gentoo forums)
29 and, the solution being simpler, it is easier for you to *understand* them
30 and act with confidence (and I personally would take at the very lest
31 one extra care - verify if the USE flags and CFLAGS the binary package
32 was built with were compatible with my system).
33 You appear to have executed commands you didn't understand - based on
34 some blog.
35
36 Anyway, how is the system now? Is portage working? What about the
37 manual Python installations, are they still in the system?
38 I don't know if it is healthy to have these remains around
39 (and if you want to clean them, be careful).
40
41 By the way, can you write with more clarity? I don't understand you
42 completely - perhaps because I am a non-native English speaker.
43
44 Regards,
45 Jorge