Re: [gentoo-user] binary packages: how to ...

[n952162]

On 07/15/20 01:46, Ashley Dixon wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 11:24:31PM +0200, n952162 wrote:
>> binary packages: how to:
>>
>> 1. find out if a package is binary before you install it (e.g. where on
>>     app-arch/rar does it say it's a binary package)
> RAR is an unusual case, with both the "mirror" and "bindist" flags  set  in  the
> RESTRICT variable (i.e., Gentoo cannot legally mirror the  package,  and  you're
> not allowed to redistribute binaries either).  I couldn't find anything  in  the
> ebuild which suggests it is a binary package; perhaps  this  is  something  that
> should be reviewed by the Gentoo  developers,  as  most  packages  supporting  a
> binary distribution provide a separate package with the `-bin` suffix, although
> I suppose this doesn't make much sense when there is no source package.
>
> The entire RAR business model of free decompression  and  paid  compression  has
> caused confusion for many people over many decades.  I'd always stick to 7zip or
> one of the classic UNIX compression utilities, if I had a choice.
>
>> 2. inhibit their installation
> Don't install them. ;-)
>
> More seriously: there's not that many of them, so it's probably  not  a  process
> worth automating, unless you're on a  multi-user  machine,  in  which  untrusted
> users can install packages -  although  I  think  you'd  have  more  significant
> problems at that point.  As you've unfortunately discovered, there isn't much of
> a concrete framework in place to automatically  detect  binary  packages,  which
> also makes Point (3) difficult.
>
>> 3. get a list of the ones installed on a system
> `EIX_LIMIT=0 eix --only-names -I *-bin`, perhaps ?   Unfortunately,  this  won't
> catch the unusual cases, as seen with `app-arch/rar`.
>
>> Any ideas about that are appreciated.
> [1] might be worth a read; it's quite comprehensive, and  gives  you  a  glimpse
> into the inner-workings of Portage, allowing you to fix these  issues  yourself.
>
> Something to note: "bindist", as the USE-flag and RESTRICT option, does not mean
> "use a binary distribution", but rather "compile the package in such a way  that
> I can redistribute my build without putting myself in a legal problem  with  the
> package authors" (this commonly is synonymous with disabling official branding):
>
> $ ash-euses -sk bindist
>
> dev-libs/openssl:bindist - Disable/Restrict EC algorithms (as they seem to be patented) -- note: changes the ABI
> dev-libs/openssl-compat:bindist - Disable/Restrict EC algorithms (as they seem to be patented) -- note: changes the ABI
> dev-qt/qtnetwork:bindist - Disable EC support via dev-libs/openssl
> mail-client/thunderbird:bindist - Disable official Firefox/Thunderbird branding (icons, name) which are not binary-redistributable according to upstream.
> media-libs/freetype:bindist - Disable ClearType support (see http://freetype.org/patents.html)
> net-libs/liboauth:bindist - Alias for the nss USE flag, since there are license compliancy trouble when using OpenSSL.
> net-misc/openssh:bindist - Disable EC/RC5 algorithms in OpenSSL for patent reasons.
> sys-apps/ucspi-ssl:bindist - Disable EC/RC5 algorithms in OpenSSL for patent reasons.
> www-client/firefox:bindist - Disable official Firefox branding (icons, name) which are not binary-redistributable according to upstream.
>
>          Hope this helps,
>          Ashley.
>
> [1] https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Binary_package_guide
>

Yes, excellent overview.  Thank you.