Re: [gentoo-user] Re: How to stem the flood of new packages?

[Paul Hartman <paul.hartman+gentoo@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 5:32 PM, Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grant Edwards wrote:
>> On 2013-02-11, Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Grant Edwards wrote:
>>>> <whinge>
>>>> I tried doing an "emerge -auvND world" today.  It's been three days
>>>> since the previous update, and today portage wants to update 1 package
>>>> and install _35_new_ones_.
>>>>
>>>> Seriously?  35 new packages that I have to install on Monday that I
>>>> didn't have to have the previous Friday?  A few of them are virtual
>>>> packages, but the vast majority are actual package that I neither want
>>>> nor need (other than to satisfy a requirement imposed by a new USE
>>>> flag that defaults to "on" when it should have defaulted to "off").
>>>>
>>>> I realize that every developer thinks think their pariticular package
>>>> is the greatest thing ever and should be installed on everything since
>>>> the TI SR-54 calculator, but this seems a bit silly...
>>>> </whinge>
>>>>
>>> Well, use the -t option to see what pulls in what.
>> I did.  I turned off about a half-dozen new USE flags and elminated 30
>> of the new packages.  My point was that in general when new stuff is
>> added, the default behavior should be "same as before" (IMO).
>>
>>> Also, disable some USE flags that you don't want/need.  Also, could
>>> some of this be the profile change?
>> Ah, that could be.  When the old profile went away I picked the
>> generic "desktop" option.  Eselect didn't seem to be able to tell me
>> what profile I had selected previously.
>>
>
>
> Well, like with everything else, I think they are working on making
> eselect tell you what you had or "suggest" the replacement for you.
> Naturally, this is a few days late.  I think Alan pointed out this has
> been happening a good bit here lately.  Does someone need a switch to
> dust some britches with or what?  Someone is being naughty.  lol

I see Gentoo as the daily crossword puzzle of distros. People who use
it every day need to be challenged, forced to read up on current
events, and have to solve puzzles in order to progress. Other people
need super-stable things like RHEL with 10-year support... they're
like the dusty set of encyclopedias sitting on the shelf. Expensive
and reliable, if a bit outdated near the end of their life-cycle. :)