[gentoo-user] Re: Profile listings

[Martin Vaeth <martin@mvath.de>]

James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> There is no dir '/var/portage' on my system. Yet this command works fine:
>
> "PORTAGE_PROFILE=/var/portage/profiles/default/linux/arm/13.0/armv7a eix -c
> --system "
>
> Strange, to say the least.

Not at all strange: Again, PORTAGE_PROFILE points to a non-directory,
so it is ignored, and the default is chosen.

>> > But it's a stupid place for it to go on Linux and most of the sane
>> > technical Gentoo world agrees it really is a better fit in /var/portage.
>
> "pig-mess" like I said earlier.

A default is a default. It is you - the sytem adminstrator - who is
responsible to determine the setting most appropriate for his system.
For instance, when exporting, a sane place might be
/srv/gentoo-repo

>> Or, as I do, put it in its own partition and you can mount it wherever 
>> you like. Just point make.conf and repos.conf/gentoo.conf at it.
>
> Yea, yea, I can make a custom mess too: aka brilliantly (in my own mind)
> organize it, I mean.

That's what you are supposed to do with a meta-distribution,
especially if you do not like the default choice.

> The bottom line for me is:
>
> 1) folks should be able to migrated up and down the profile tree. It's give
> us some neat abilities. If I have a workstation that becomes old, I could
> change the profile and move it'down' to default or embedded and turn it
> into a decicated, minimized router, firewall, bridge, sniffer etc etc. I
> think the offcial word is changing profiles is not recommended.

If you don't know what you are doing, you keep the pieces:
Some conversion (e.g. non-multilib->multilib or 32bit->64bit)
are really hard. It won't help you just to change the profile:
You would need cross-compilation etc.

OTOH, if you just want to transform a desktop into a server (e.g.)
it is very simple: Mainly this has nothing to do with the profile
but with the USE-flags and packages which you select manually.

> 2) Some thing of a profile needs to exist between an embedded system
> (busybox only) and the default.

No. If you are running an embedded system, you are supposed to be
expert enough to make your own profile. If you lack the experience
to do it, don't do it, since otherwise you will just end up with a
mess anyway. Use instead one of the save profiles and do not try to
shrink it beyond sanity, so that things work and do not break
unexpectedly.

> Cleaning up the profiles just seems logical to me, after noodling
> around with in the profiles......

Fine. If you are an expert enough do it. You will have then the
experience that nobody else will have exactly your need and thus
understand that having a profile only for your need in the main
gentoo repository would be pointless. And of course, you are then
expert enough to create a custom profile (or build one modifying
an exising one) without asking here.
If you are not such an expert: See above: Use one of the save profiles
and do not try to shrink it beyond sanity, so that things work and do
not break unexpectedly.


> 5) Also, security in the cluster/cloud world is almost impossible building
> clusters on top of 'bloated OSes and bloated system packages'. YMMV.

None of the gentoo profiles is bloated (systemd excluded, of course).
And even if a package is installed which you do not need, it will not
make your system insecure if it is not used. Your configuration and
USE-flags are much more important than the tiny list of @system packeges:
Shrinking these even more is really only a task for the experienced expert.