Re: [gentoo-user] Subversion 1.2

[Holly Bostick <motub@planet.nl>]

Steve [Gentoo] schreef:

> when I use ACCEPT_KEYWORDS in place of USE it now behaves just how I had
> previously expected it should have done.
> 
> # ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" emerge -uD subversion
> 
> This does what I'd originally intended to try...  (and doesn't force me
> to remember how to spell the  dependencies.) I assume there's no
> significant advantage I've missed in preferring to use the
> package.keywords file instead?

Advantage in using ACCEPT_KEYWORDS over /etc/portage/package.keywords?
Only in the case that you want to quickly test an unstable package, but
are not sure if you want to keep it.

The thing is.... Portage doesn't *remember* ACCEPT_KEYWORDS, beyond the
 original compile in which it is used. So if you use it, and keep the
package, as soon as you do an emerge -u world, Portage will try to
downgrade the package to the last stable version, which is the only one
that it knows to be allowed (because /etc/make.conf says "xarch", not
"~arch", and no exception for this particular package and its
dependencies has been made in /etc/portage/package.keywords).

This becomes especially frustrating if you do an emerge -uD world, and
it's not the main package, but one of the *dependencies* or deep
dependencies which forces a downgrade-- if the formerly unstable package
has been upgraded to stable, but depends on a package that has not yet
been upgraded, emerge -U(D) world can quickly become a hellish cycle of
the main package downgrading and then upgrading in the same or
sequential operations.... until you add the relevant packages to
/etc/portage/package.keywords and stop the madness.

However, if you find that the package is in fact too unstable for your
needs, the fact that it will be automatically downgraded at your next
emerge -u world is a nice safety net-- but you only need a safety net if
you're explicitly testing something and really don't know if it's going
to work out for you or not. If you know you want it, then add it to
package.keywords. If you're not sure, but don't have the time or energy
to explicitly test and make a final determination, then wait until it's
stable.

It's a beautiful system :-) .

Holly
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