Re: [gentoo-user] understanding --depclean

[Neil Bothwick]

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:13:00 -0600, Dale wrote:

> > That may have been the case some time ago, but depclean is much safer
> > now. Notice that the warning at the start of its output has
> > disappeared now?


> That is true but let's say a person updates python but forgets or
> doesn't know,  to run python-updater, will --depclean know that?

If packages depnd on the older version of python, depclean won't remove
them. If it's just a matter of depending on the correct modules,
python-updater will fix that after the older python has been removed.

> What if emerge doesn't work and they don't have buildpkg of some sort in
> make.conf?

Why would emerge stop itself working?

> I agree that --depclean is a LOT better but there are still situations
> where it can mess up a system.   It is best to be careful and really
> look at that list before letting it remove a package.  Basically, don't
> type it in and walk off to let it do whatever it wants.

While I always run it with --pretend first, that's because I'm more
curious than paranoid. What are these situations in which it can really
mess up a system and are they situations that any sensible user would put
themselves in?

> I also seem to remember that big warning when --depclean runs.  I think
> that may still be there for a reason.  ;-)

See above, that warning has been gone for some time. The preamble now
contains this indication that depclean is a lot more cautious.

 * As a safety measure, depclean will not remove any packages
 * unless *all* required dependencies have been resolved.  As a
 * consequence, it is often necessary to run `emerge --update
 * --newuse --deep @system @world` prior to depclean.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

If your VCR still flashes 12:00 - then Linux is not for you.