[TAG] Gentoo

[Kevin Williams]

Mike,

I just read your article in Linux Gazette online on Installing Gentoo, 
and thought I could help with a few of the problems you have experienced.

If OpenOffice did not compile, you could try openoffice-bin.

When I want to see what version of a package is installed, I use "emerge 
-pv <packagename>".

Gentoo must have other users who commented on the "packages.debian.org" 
web page, because Gentoo adopted the same thing a couple of months ago. 
http://packages.gentoo.org/ is a similar page where you can find lots of 
info including searching by category or name.

I'm not sure if I can help with package documentation. There is good 
general documentation on how Gentoo-specific nuances work by following 
the "Docs" link from the top of the home page.

The best way to implement a package differently than the package 
maintainer intended is to create a local overlay of the portage tree. 
This should be is the docs, but here's my quick notes:

1.	Uncomment the "PORTAGE_OVERLAY" option in /etc/make.conf
2.	mkdir -p /usr/local/portage/dev-php/php/files
3.	Copy /usr/portage/dev-php/php/php/php-<version>.ebuild to 
/usr/local/portage/dev-php/php - I suggest changing the build version or 
release number to identify your version
4.	Tweak the ebuild file
5.	Run 'ebuild /usr/local/portage/dev-php/php/php-<version>.ebuild digest'

Now, if you use "emerge -pv php" you should see your build and a 
notation that the ebuild is coming from the /usr/local/portage overlay 
location. The biggest problem with all this is that now you are a 
package maintainer but it's on your local system. Keeping your changes 
in sync with new ebuilds from Portage can be a hassle. It's a good idea 
to request a new USE flag for your desired ./configure arguments in 
http://bugs.gentoo.org/ and let the official package maintainer worry 
about it going forward.

I hope these suggestions help. I have found the Gentoo documentation and 
the Forums to be infinitely helpful. Now this former Windows advocate 
compiles his own kernel on a regular basis including software RAID and 
bootsplash tweaks. It's addicting!

Enjoy,

Kevin