From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1RRPNc-0005Fr-LQ for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:25:24 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 8021921C07B; Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:25:12 +0000 (UTC) Received: from sentinel.math.Princeton.EDU (sentinel.math.Princeton.EDU [128.112.16.31]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 13F6621C027 for ; Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:24:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: from math.princeton.edu ([128.112.18.16]) by sentinel.math.Princeton.EDU with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1RRPMK-0003KA-Ch for gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org; Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:24:05 -0500 Received: by math.princeton.edu (Postfix, from userid 1737) id 5B026C0BBD; Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:24:04 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:24:04 -0500 From: Willie Wong To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Upgrading gcc: both 4.4 and 4.5 needed? Message-ID: <20111118142404.GA21198@math.princeton.edu> References: <4EC2B642.3010500@gmail.com> <201111160811.17331.stephane@22decembre.eu> <20111116133052.GA12194@math.princeton.edu> Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-12-10) X-Archives-Salt: d0c4f5b9-ab46-4d52-a062-1e4e9bea48a7 X-Archives-Hash: 007bf085b8e68102ba3f17a0d91c71dc On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 07:41:21PM +0000, James wrote: > > Now, why can't the USE descriptions be like the kernel option > > descriptions and have something like what Pandu wrote included? > > I added this to root's .bashrc a long time ago: > > # USE flag settings hack by Ciaran McCreesh: > explainuseflag(){ sed -ne "s,^\([^ ]*:\)\?$1 - ,,p" $(portageq > portdir)/profiles/use.{,local.}desc; } > alias ef="explainuseflag" > > > Then simply use the alias for a quick check to learn about all the different > uses of a given flag: > > 'ef graphite' > > # ef graphite > Enable support for non-Roman fonts via media-gfx/graphite2 > Enable support for non-Roman fonts via media-gfx/graphite2 > Add support for the framework for loop optimizations based on a polyhedral > intermediate representation > > Then drill down into the a specific package's use flag meaning, using the > aforementioned 'equery u' delineated by Albert. You people seem to miss my point. I know perfectly well how to find the USE descriptions. It is just that the USE description, in this case (as in many others) isn't terribly useful. "Add support for the framework for loop optimizations based on a polyhedral intermediate representation" means absolutely gibberish to me. But if one were to add an additional one or two lines a la Pandu, about how it is supposed to make " gcc-4.5.3 use a newer method to detect parallelism, thus (potentially) makes programs compiled by gcc to have better multithreaded performance" and perhaps even a Kernel help page style "It is mostly stable. If unsure, say Yes." It would be ever so much more helpful for people who would like to find out what new flags do before deciding whether or not to follow the default recommended by the devs which are set into the profile. (I'm not saying this type of hand holding is necessary for all flags: "enable support for non-Roman fonts via media-gfx/graphite2" is perfectly understandable, as are most other flags about features a "user" is likely to interact with. But for some of the more "system" type flags (see also that python/perl flag business from the recent months), I think the USE descriptions can stand some improvement.) W -- Willie W. Wong wwong@math.princeton.edu Data aequatione quotcunque fluentes quantitae involvente fluxiones invenire et vice versa ~~~ I. Newton