Re: [gentoo-user] emerge all but...

[Mark Knecht]

On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 8:14 AM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
> Mark Knecht wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 10:12 AM, Mark Knecht<markknecht@×××××.com>
>>  wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 9:55 AM,<meino.cramer@×××.de>  wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> is it possible to emerge all missing dependencies of a certain
>>>> application without emerging the application itself? And: Will
>>>> I hurt the system that way?
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> mcc
>>>>
>>>
>>> ???
>>>
>>> emerge -DuN application
>>>
>>> ???
>>>
>>> What am I missing in the question?
>>>
>>> Test it on a clean app with no dependencies missing. It should emerge
>>> nothing. Then emerge -C one dependency and try it again. It should
>>> pick up that dependency but not emerge the app itself.
>>>
>>> You will not hurt your system doing that command.
>>>
>>> - Mark
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I wanted to follow up on my somewhat cavalier comment a couple of days
>> ago about doing emerge -C on a dependency. It was a bad comment for me
>> to make without adding some discussion around it. This can actually
>> harm your system if you emerge -C the wrong dependency. For instance,
>> emerge -C gcc or python is likely a bad thing to do as you will be
>> unable to build anything to get the system fixed again. However emerge
>> -C jack-audio-connection-kit as a dependency for something like Ardour
>> wouldn't harm the system but would demonstrate what I was talking
>> about.
>>
>> Any new user reading this thread at some future date should ensure
>> that (at a minimum) if they emerge -C anything at all that at least
>> it's not part of @system. emerge should warn of this but it's best to
>> do a little study before pushing the enter key.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mark
>>
>>
>
> It is good that you explained that more.  I thought about the same thing but
> thought maybe I was missing something that was mentioned earlier in another
> message.
>
> I wouldn't always count on portage warning before removing a system package
> tho.  I tested this by trying to remove python and portage said nothing it
> doesn't say on any other package even one in the world file.  Future users
> may want to ask first either here or on the forums before removing something
> that may be questionable.
>
> It may not be a bad idea for a thread with packages that should never be
> removed.  Things such as gcc, python, baselayout etc.  Maybe a user would
> find that and at least have a general guide.  I also think it would be a
> good idea to have the same on the forums as a "sticky" thread that the mods
> can edit from time to time.
>
> Dale

Dale,
   The last thing I want to do is cause anyone any trouble. From that
point it's easier to just stay quiet all the time and let others more
experienced than myself answer all the questions. However I don't
really want to act that way - taking and never giving.

   I like your idea about lists of packages that should never be
removed. Personally I think a doc doc page somewhere in the
install/maintenance doc group would be good but it would need to be
well maintained. Understanding the absolute minimum number of things
that are required to use emerge and get a package built would be a
good doc, if it doesn't exist somewhere already.

   Personally I'm never 100% sure about anything that's not an
application package I installed myself and is sitting in the world
file. I suspect others - possibly you included - have similar fears at
times.

Cheers,
Mark