Aw: Re: [gentoo-user] Updating portage, continued

I'm sorry, I'm not getting this yet.  What if I just don't update these configuration files?

dispatch-conf tells me, for  /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords:

--- /etc/portage/package.use/zz-autounmask      2018-03-12 21:56:49.172491972 +0100
+++ /etc/portage/package.use/._cfg0015_zz-autounmask    2018-07-28 11:08:23.725995803 +0200
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 >=dev-lang/python-2.7.14-r1:2.7 sqlite
 >=sys-libs/zlib-1.2.11-r1 minizip
+# required by www-misc/monitorix-3.9.0::gentoo
+# required by monitorix (argument)
+>=net-analyzer/rrdtool-1.6.0-r1 perl graph

I can zap it or merge it or skip it.   It looks like the emerge was successful, so, why should I do anything?

$ rrdtool
RRDtool 1.6.01.6.0  Copyright by Tobias Oetiker <tobi@×××××××.ch>


I would have thought that emerge would pend until I'd agreed to the override.  But, it apparently went ahead and installed.
So what's required still?  What will be different once I make the merge to zz-autounmask?




> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 30. Mai 2019 um 14:33 Uhr
> Von: "Rich Freeman" <rich0@g.o>
> An: gentoo-user@l.g.o
> Betreff: Re: [gentoo-user] Updating portage, continued
>
> On Wed, May 29, 2019 at 6:37 PM <n952162@×××.de> wrote:
> >
> > The next section of the response to my attempt to update portage is a long list of packages, each terminated with a "(masked by: something or other)".
> >
> > What does that tell me.  If it's masked, it shouldn't be available, right?  But, I've got it:
> >
> > - virtual/perl-parent-0.234.0-r1::gentoo (masked by: package.mask)
> >
> > ls virtual/perl-parent/perl-parent-0.234.0-r1.ebuild
> > virtual/perl-parent/perl-parent-0.234.0-r1.ebuild
> >
> > Can I get rid of it?  Is perl-parent always masked?
> >
>
> I think one of the issues here is that you might be running a bit with
> scissors.
>
> It seems like you might be using package.keywords, and now you're
> dealing with package masks.
>
> Portage will let you override just about anything, but those default
> behaviors all exist for a reason and you can easily end up painting
> yourself into a corner.  Overriding keywords is something that isn't
> too unsafe to do once you know what you're doing, but if you're doing
> it a lot it can get out of hand (adding keywords for one package can
> require 3 more, and if you keep that up it can really get out of
> hand).  If you're overriding keywords frequently perhaps you should be
> running the testing branch in the first place, etc.
>
> Overriding masks is something that should only be done if you REALLY
> know what you're doing.  If something is masked it might contain
> security vulnerabilities, or it might be going away.  The consequences
> of the former are obvious.  If it is going away then you're going to
> be fighting to keep things working because the next step will be
> removal and other packages will start being modified to not work with
> the old approach.
>
> Basically, any setting you put in /etc/portage is something you're
> going to have to work to maintain, so you should be doing whatever you
> can to minimize this.  By all means speak up on the list about "I'm
> trying to accomplish this, and is there a better way to go about it?"
> If you're creating a ton of entries in /etc/portage you might be
> fighting the package manager more than necessary.  There is nothing
> wrong with customizing things (that is basically what Gentoo is for),
> but you definitely need to learn how to manage that so that you don't
> make life hard on yourself.
>
> --
> Rich
>
>