Re: [gentoo-user] update fails, but I don't see why

[Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com>]

Victor Ivanov wrote:
> On 05/12/2020 10:13, Dale wrote:
>> that as, I learned the hard way.  Once you get Gentoo installed and all
>> the packages you want installed completed, it is wise to add the
>> --oneshot option to the defaults in make.conf.  That helps keep the
>> world file clean since you won't have packages in the world file that
>> shouldn't be there.  If later you want to add a package to the world
>> file, you have to specify that you want it added.  If it is already
>> installed, you can do a emerge -n --select y <package name> and it adds
>> it to the world file.  It will then be maintained automatically.
>
> Excellent pro-tip for keeping your world file clean! While I
> personally use the reverse of this (i.e. I manually add -1 to things I
> do not want to end up in my world file) this is a lot more of a sane
> approach for the every day person or those new to Gentoo.
>
> On a side note, '--select y' is not necessary as it is implied by '-n'.
>
> One thing I would add as well is that regular 'world' cleaning is good
> practice to have regardless of the above. Every couple of months (on
> average, I don't really keep track) I tend to look at my world file
> and take note of entries that may have found their way there either
> automatically (lack of -1) or something I used to use and no longer
> need. These can be cleaned up with --deselect, followed by --depclean
> e.g.:
>
>     # emerge --deselect ATOM [ATOM...]
>     # emerge -a --depclean
>
> Last time round I only deselected 2-3 packages but that removed about
> 30 or so unnecessary dependencies, so pretty chuffed. Disk space is
> cheap these days and there's little reason to be so pedantic, but I
> tend to get quite a satisfying feeling when my system becomes 'leaner'
> so I do it anyway. Having fewer packages installed also helps speed up
> portage's dependency resolution stage during updates which is already
> an incredibly slow process (depending on CPU's single thread
> performance ofc).
>
> - Victor
>

I'll try leaving off the --select part next time.  At one point, it
would work only when both were there.  Maybe something changed???  Maybe
I had another setting that had to be overridden??? Who knows. 

I've looked through my world file a few times but never found anything
that didn't belong there.  With --oneshot being the default, I don't
have to worry about forgetting to add -1 or anything.  It's there
already.  There is on occasion a package I no longer use that I remove. 
For some, especially those new to Gentoo, adding that --oneshot is a
good move.  I've often wondered why it isn't the default. 

Hope the advice helps someone.  Wish I had it way back then.  ;-)

Dale

:-)  :-)