Maybe that is a doc issue, but /etc/make.conf.example speaks about PORTAGE_TMPFS but emerge shows PORTAGE_TMPDIR. # emerge --info Portage 2.1.4.4 (default/linux/amd64/2008.0/no-multilib, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.6.1-r0, 2.6.24-gentoo-r4-default x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.24-gentoo-r4-default x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz Timestamp of tree: Thu, 01 May 2008 01:45:02 +0000 app-shells/bash: 3.2_p17-r1 dev-lang/python: 2.4.4-r9 dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6 sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.11.1 sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.18.1-r2 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.61-r1 sys-devel/automake: 1.8.5-r3, 1.10.1 sys-devel/binutils: 2.18-r1 sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.0-r4 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.26 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.23-r3 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64" CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=nocona" CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/udev/rules.d" CXXFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=nocona" DISTDIR="/dev/shm/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="distlocks metadata-transfer sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-orphans userfetch" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="amd64 berkdb bzip2 crypt gdbm kerberos minimal mmx ncurses nptl nptlonly pam python readline sse sse2 ssl tcpd zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse evdev" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="fbdev glint i810 mach64 mga neomagic nv r128 radeon savage sis tdfx trident vesa vga via vmware voodoo" Unset: CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, LINGUAS, MAKEOPTS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY # cat /etc/make.conf # These settings were set by the catalyst build script that automatically # built this stage. # Please consult /etc/make.conf.example for a more detailed example. CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=nocona" CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" # WARNING: Changing your CHOST is not something that should be done lightly. # Please consult http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/change-chost.xml before changing. CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" # These are the USE flags that were used in addition to what is provided by the # profile used for building. USE="mmx sse sse2 -multilib uclibc minimal -doc" USE="-acl amd64 berkdb bzip2 -cli -cracklib crypt -cups -dri -fortran gdbm -gpm -iconv -ipv6 -isdnlog -midi minimal mmx -mudflap ncurses -nls nptl nptlonly -openmp pam -pcre -perl -pppd python readline -reflection -session -spl sse sse2 ssl tcpd -unicode -xorg zlib -X kerberos" PORTAGE_TMPFS="/dev/shm/var/tmp/portage" DISTDIR="/dev/shm/usr/portage/distfiles" #
PORTAGE_TMPFS has been removed a long time ago, so the comment in make.conf.example is outdated (and I've just removed it).
This is fixed in 2.1.5_rc7.
