Re: [gentoo-user] anti-portage wreckage?

["Boyd Stephen Smith Jr." <bss03@volumehost.net>]

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On Monday 25 December 2006 02:46, "Mike Myers" <fluffymikey@gmail.com> 
wrote about 'Re: [gentoo-user] anti-portage wreckage?':
> I understand what you say, but I'm not sure I got my point across very
> well.  Let's say I have a server that has various things installed like
> apache with the 2.0 branch, mysql with the 4.0 branch, and PHP with
> the 4.xbranch.  If I do an emerge -u world on a machine with these, at
> some random
> point in time when the devs decide the newer branch is stable, then any
> one of these will be upgraded to the next branch.  What I am asking, is
> why wouldn't it be better to have it where I will only stay on the
> current branch for that profile, and only move to the next branch when I
> change the profile?

I would say... Move to Debian.  Gentoo dosen't have fixed branches (we have 
a live tree) even profiles don't fix much, generally minimal (not maximal) 
version numbers.

Debian, will make sure that upgrades to your (e.g.) sarge mysql package are 
either ABI compatible, or tied to other upgrades that move the ABI all at 
the same time.  This generally make Debian (and to a lesser extent Ubuntu) 
quite stable once installed.  Gentoo is.... different.

By default, Gentoo marks packages as working ("stable"), testing ("~arch"), 
or non-working ("masked by package.mask") and lets the user control the 
version(s) they want to use on their specific system (rather than 
being "attached" to a profile) with the local /etc/portage/package.mask 
(and package.keywords and package.unmask etc.).

If you decide that mysql 4 is what you want to stick with as long as gentoo 
will support it, there stick something like '>category/mysql-4*' 
or '>=category/mysql-5*' into your package.mask.  emerge will then stop 
whenever it wants newer mysql.

-- 
"If there's one thing we've established over the years,
it's that the vast majority of our users don't have the slightest
clue what's best for them in terms of package stability."
-- Gentoo Developer Ciaran McCreesh

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