> > Note 2: While there are 23.0 split-usr profiles, the *stage* downloads
> > are *all* of the merged-usr type. Why? Not because I'm a big fan of that, 
> > but because we should try to unify and standardize a bit again - to 
> > avoid too many different build configurations leading to too many Heisenbugs.
> 
> I don't think this is a good idea.
> 
> We've promised people that they can keep unmerged-usr if they want, 

And they can.

[However, I don't see the point for it. Apart from ideological considerations,
there is no obvious advantage to the split-usr layout anymore.]

> but not having stages means new installs aren't doable,

Yes.

> and it also makes testing a pain because you can't easily unmerge.
> You can easily merge, but you can't easily unmerge.

That is the imho more important and valid point, maintaining the remaining 
split-usr installs will get harder.

> What you can do is provide a limited number of non-merged-usr variants
> given it's just about saving people rebuilds.

For amd64 and arm64 that's doable (since builds are cheap there).
I would very much discourage using these variants for new installs though.

[And yes I would prefer to deprecate the split-usr profiles and remove them
at some point in the not-so-far future. That is however a topic that needs
separate debate.]

> (I also think it's the wrong way to do such a change anyway - the releng
> part should be last after decision-making, not first.)

The decision where this is going has been made long ago... just not by us
because we've been lagging behind. But I get what you mean.


-- 
Andreas K. Hüttel
dilfridge@gentoo.org
Gentoo Linux developer 
(council, comrel, toolchain, base-system, perl, libreoffice)
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Dilfridge