better use of USE flags during installation

[bigbangnet]

Hello,

I installed gentoo using the handbook at one time...well some time ago. But after a while and some tries and some reading here and there on the forum, I've noticed that some people really tweak there Gentoo installation using the USE flags. When I last installed it, I almost used the USE flags in make.conf (global USE flag). Because of that, I believe my system is not..."skinny" if I must say.

Just for kicks, fun and of course education, would there be a noticeable difference (in HHD space used, computer performance, etc) if I reinstalled Gentoo using /etc/portage/package.use ?
_________________
I'm a noob, be gentle with me. TEACH ME

[BillWho]

bigbangnet,

I don't know how much of a noticeable difference you'll see with disk usage and performance, but it will definitely help in minimizing emerge conflicts.

Early on I suffered from irrational exuberance with use flag settings in make.conf. Since I cleaned them out and made better use of package.use, the conflicts have abated.

Good Luck
_________________
Good luck

Since installing gentoo, my life has become one long emerge

[The Doctor]

[Clad in Sky]

It's definitely a good idea to manage the use flags in package.use mostly. As BillWho said, it might help avoiding conflicts during world updates and sometimes use flags get dropped from certain packages, which would result in having to use package.use to specify "-<insertuseflaghere>" anyway.
_________________
Kali Ma
Now it's autumn of the aeons
Dance with your sword
Now it's time for the harvest

[cach0rr0]

set your profile correctly, and sparingly use global USE flags in make.conf - that's my general strategy

-the profile handles the must-haves (eselect profile list && eselect profile set <foo> && env-update && source /etc/profile)
-make.conf handles the "i dont want anything to ever, in any circumstance, NOT have this support where available"
-package.use is for *enabling* things on a per-package basis, since make.conf/profile have handled the real important stuff

the topic is of course very subjective
as to how much of a benefit you get out of it? Generally means you end up pulling down fewer dependencies. At runtime, the chances of the app itself running noticeably faster are very low in most cases, though theoretically fewer runtime dependencies means less to mmap() means less memory. The real savings to be found is in disk space, from the pulling down of fewer dependencies, less system clutter.
_________________
Lost configuring your system?
dump lspci -n here | see Pappy's guide | Link Stash

[djdunn]

dont forget that sometimes features and such get added to packages also, and having the use flag in make.conf will apply those new flags since they are being active system wide, however theres drawbacks as previously mentioned. Also do not forget that each flag you remove from make.conf without supplying it in package.use will removing a function or feature from that application.

also dont forget that there is a heirarchy of use flags depending where they are defined

first considered is the flags set inside your profile
next considered is the flags set within make.conf, make.conf will override your profile
next considered is package.use, will override both make.conf and your profile
last considered is defining use flags at the commandline , this will override everything, however unlike the others changes made here are not saved beteween instances of emerge

so if your package.use contains all the flags you removed from make.conf in each package you have installed that uses those flags individually you will make 0 changes to the packages of your system, and thus emerge --newuse world would do nothing.
_________________
“Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the Universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good and just and beautiful.”

― Plato

[jasn]

Is there a tool, or easy method, to remove make.conf USE flags which are not needed, or are duplicates of the profile USE flags?

[Apheus]

[mv]

[Apheus]

[cwr]

I tend to add flags to package.use, until too many packages need a specific
flag - then it goes into make.conf. Mostly these are media and file-type flags.
I started with a minimal set in make.conf, and I'm now up to ten or twelve flags.

Will

[cach0rr0]