Re: [gentoo-dev] Portage irk...

[Caleb Shay <caleb@webninja.com>]

You can "pin" a package.  Just put ">=app-grp/appname-x.y.z" into
/var/cache/edb/world and emerge -u world won't try to downgrade, or use
= instead of >= and it will never try to change the version at all.

Caleb

On Thu, 2003-01-30 at 14:18, Louis-Philippe Brochu wrote:
> > One way to do it:  remove whatever packages you do not want touched by
> > "world" out of /var/cache/edb/world.  The packages in that file are the
> > only ones that will get looked at whenever you run 'emerge -u world'.
> 
> Well there is two problems with this approach. First one is that by
> removing this package from the world file it will not be updated anymore
> when a new version (newer than the one installed) is released. Second
> problem is that this hack won't work if the package removed from the world
> file is required as a dependency for another package you're trying to
> install. Portage will resolve the denpendency, will want to install your
> package and will downgrade it.
> 
> > Secondarily, I suggest running 'emerge -up world' to see what would be
> > downgraded first, without actually running anything.
> >
> > Automatic downgrading is generally healthy behavior (if for example, we
> > unmasked a new version which later proved broken/unstable, therefore we
> > need people to revert to an older, stable release).
> 
> Yes but there should be a way to disable this. An option to "pin" a
> minimum version of a package or to simply disable the possibility of
> downgrading a package (with a switch on the command line or better, a
> configurable option in /etc/make.conf).
> 
> The case you are talking about *should* pratically never happen if
> packages we're tested *before* being released.
> 
> > This is a FAQ...   I'm sure there are some enhancements to Portage
> > underway   which will make this issue more elegant/intuitive.
> 
> I really hope the Gentoo developpers will add this functionnality. Ever
> since the introduction for the ~arch keywords packages updates have been a
> mess for me. If you are running on a stable system exclusively everything
> is fine. Same thing if you are running exclusively with an unstable system
> (with ~arch). If you never use the emerge world command you should not
> have many problems, just define the ACCEPT_KEYWORDS before emerging
> unstable packages and you're ok.
> 
> The problem comes when you are using stable *and* unstable *and* emerge
> world command. Try to emerge world a mix of stable and unstable packages
> and see all the packages downgrades. Try to define ACCEPT_KEYWORDS, now
> Portage wants to install all unstable packages. Mask the old version of
> unstable packages you installed (or just remove them from the world file)
> and watch Portage trying to resolve a dependency for another packages and
> downgrade your package anyway... The only thing Portage need is a
> "don't-ever-downgrade-my-packages" function IMHO.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list
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Caleb Shay                                   "UNIX _IS_ user friendly.
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