[gentoo-portage-dev] Re: [PATCH 0/4] Autounmask changes

[Duncan <1i5t5.duncan@cox.net>]

Alexander Berntsen posted on Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:56:28 +0200 as excerpted:

> One thing that needs discussion is what to do with the current behaviour
> of --autounmask, i.e. printing the suggestions. One thing that was
> really weird in my original patches (the ones in this thread)
> is this:
> 
> emerge foo # this will do what --autounmask does today
> emerge foo --autounmask # this will do what --autounmask-write does
> emerge foo -a # this will do what --ask --autounmask-write does
> emerge foo --autounmask=n # this will do what --autounmask=n does
> 
> The problem here is that there is no way to do e.g. emerge foo --ask,
> and get suggestions any longer. You can either have it prompt to write
> stuff, or you can have it not do anything -- but you can't explicitly
> have it suggest stuff without prompting to write. This is bad design.
> 
> So either I need to implement tri-state (--autounmask can be yes, no,
> suggest), or I need to do something more drastic.

This remains my problem with the patches as they are now.

* I don't want portage writing mask/use changes on its own under any 
circumstances, as I use directories and have my own idea of what files I 
want stuff in.

* Never-the-less, I find the suggestions very helpful and indeed, often 
the easiest way to find out what I need to do.

* I routinely use --ask.

Currently, --ask assumes "yes" very easily, simply hit return, and I like 
that behavior for simple merges as it's convenient and easily enough 
undone.  (With --oneshot by default as well, an errant enter is undone 
easily enough with a --depclean.)

The patches as they are now would change that, giving me no way to still 
get the suggestions with --ask, without chancing the actual write of 
those changes.  That's particularly bad as the currently convenient 
behavior of letting a simple enter indicate yes makes it all too easy to 
actually do those writes I don't want done under any circumstances.

While I'm fine with --ask defaulting to (the current) --autounmask-write 
behavior by default, I need a way to get the current --ask --autounmask 
(without write) behavior too, even if I need to add --autounmask=suggest 
or some such to DEFAULTOPTS, because that's /my/ configuration's default 
behavior, and I want it to stay that way.  =:^)

So please do implement that tri-state --autounmask=suggest behavior. =:^)


The only other /possible/ objection I see is the potential version-
dependent confusion over --autounmask behavior.  An argument could be 
made that it might be better to simply kill the --autounmask switch, hard-
wiring that behavior, and keep the current --autounmask-write name, 
simply making it the default while still allowing people to explicitly set
--autounmask-write=n.

That way, while the remaining --autounmask-write parameter would arguably 
unnecessarily keep it's longer name, there could be no confusion over the 
changing --autounmask behavior, since that parameter would simply cease 
to exist.

But I don't feel strongly about that.  If people think the confusion over 
--autounmask changing meaning isn't as big a deal as saving those few 
extra characters necessary for the longer -write variant, fine with me.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman