Question about "keywords" in an ebuild for sparc/6

[Kumba]

I've noticed several packages that I can install on an x86 gentoo linux system that won't even appear on a sparc64 gentoo linux system due to the "KEYWORDS" line in an ebuild. Examples include net-im/naim and the patched sys-apps/tar ebuilds. I'm noticing this mainly after reading the GLSA on the bug in Tar, and wondering if it is safe to add "sparc sparc64" keywords to the list in sys-apps/tar/tar-1.13.25-r3.ebuild (which currently only has "x86"), and emerge that to satisfy the bugfix mentioned in the GLSA. I did this with naim, and had no problems with it compiling, and running it seemed to work okay (although I only ran it for a few moments).

If certain packages are not yet meant for a specific architecture, how can one go about testing them, and then submitting an update to that ebuild for a new architecture?

--Kumba
_________________
"The past tempts us, the present confuses us, the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between."
--Emperor Turhan, Centauri Republic

[joshuapreston]

Kumba,

Most of the well tested ebuilds already have had the sparc and/or sparc64 keywords added. Most of the packages that do not have them, have not been tested on a big enough variety of machines. 95% of the time, it is not going to hurt anything if you add the appropriate keywords and attempt an emerge.

If the package you build is successful and behaves correctly, feel free to post a message on https://bugs.gentoo.org.

After a little review, the maintainer can add the keyword as supported.

After all, it is a team effort.
_________________
==================================
Unless you are the lead dog,
the view is the same.
-- Unknown
==================================

Joshua Preston
pdog4x4@yahoo.com

[Kumba]

Ahh, interesting.

I figured it was only wise to open bug reports for bugs only, or new ebuilds.

--Kumba
_________________
"The past tempts us, the present confuses us, the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between."
--Emperor Turhan, Centauri Republic

[Weeve]

With the newer versions of portage (2.0.43 and beyond), you can now specify a parameter to allow untested packages to be unmasked (granted they have the right keywords).

As taken from Seemant and Gerk's posting to the Gentoo Website last week;

"A new feature has been added into Gentoo's Portage system which
allows users to choose from stable and testing/unstable packages in the
portage tree. For users who wish to opt for stable packges, nothing needs
to be done. For users interested in testing the unstable packages (and
reporting to us via our bugzilla system), please make the following
addition into your /etc/make.conf file:

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~arch"

where arch is your architecture (one of: x86, ppc, sparc, sparc64, or
alpha)."

So as long as the package developers have enabled the ~sparc or ~sparc64 keyword in their ebuilds, you should be able to try them out that way.