Could we please have VMware versions sloted? Since VMware 4.5.x is not compatible with VMware 5.0 some of us need both versions installed side by side. This means switching versions could be possible. It is not neccessary to run them both at the same time. It would be great to issue a command like "setvmware version" to have done - terminating VMware daemons, - switching config files, - making the expected version default, - starting VMware daemons Maybe something like: /etc/init.d/vmware stop rm -f /etc/vmware; ln -s /etc/vmware-${version} /etc/vmware rm -f /opt/vmware; ln -s /opt/vmware-${version} /opt/vmware /etc/init.d/vmware start Would be realy nice if you are in need having both versions available! Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install VMware 4.5.2 2. Install VMware 5.0 3. Actual Results: Version 4.5.2 is unmerged. Only version 5.0 remains. Expected Results: Keep version 4.5.2. Additionaly install version 5.0 making it possible to switch between the two versions. Portage 2.0.51.22-r2 (default-linux/x86/2005.1, gcc-3.4.3, glibc-2.3.5-r1, 2.6.11-gentoo-r9 i686) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.11-gentoo-r9 i686 Pentium II (Deschutes) Gentoo Base System version 1.6.13 dev-lang/python: 2.3.5 sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.12 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.59-r6 sys-devel/automake: 1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.5 sys-devel/binutils: 2.15.92.0.2-r10 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.18-r1 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.11-r2 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-march=pentium2 -O3 -pipe" CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.1/share/config /usr/kde/3.4/env /usr/kde/3.4/share/config /usr/kde/3.4/shutdown /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/X11/xkb /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/config /usr/share/texmf/dvipdfm/config/ /usr/share/texmf/dvips/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/generic/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/platex/config/ /usr/share/texmf/xdvi/ /var/qmail/control" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d" CXXFLAGS="-march=pentium2 -O3 -pipe" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="autoconfig distlocks fixpackages notitles sandbox sfperms strict" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://hazel.tps/gentoo http://gentoo.oregonstate.edu http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo" MAKEOPTS="-j1" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/home/tps/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="x86 X alsa apache2 apm arts avi bitmap-fonts browserplugin cdr crypt cups curl eds emboss encode esd fam flac foomaticdb fortran gd gdbm gif gpm gstreamer gtk gtk2 imagemagick imlib ipv6 java jpeg junit kde ldap libg++ libwww linguas_de linguas_en linguas_fr mad mikmod motif mozcalendar mozdevelop mozilla mozsvg mozxmlterm mp3 mpeg ncurses netboot nls nptl ogg oggvorbis opengl oss pam pdflib perl png python qt quicktime readline ruby samba sdl slang snmp softmmu speex spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd tetex tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts vorbis xine xml xml2 xmms xv zlib userland_GNU kernel_linux elibc_glibc" Unset: ASFLAGS, CTARGET, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, LINGUAS
They are not designed to live side-by-side and the headache required to keep them both on a system isn't worth my time (sorry) as kernel modules would need adjusting, as well as all of the initialization and configuration scripts.
It would be nice to have at least the tools (vmware-mount.pl, vmware-loop) available for different versions. These work, even if the main program does indeed need some tweaking to make them work side by side (not directly, you'll have to switch between them. Only one version may be running at any given time). It is a pitty not being able to have at least the tools available from older versions! Could you please make vmware sloted at least, installing files in "/opt/vmware-${version}", linking "/opt/vmware" to the latest version installed? This wouldn't be a great change, but a great enhacement over: "emerge =vmware-workstation-4.5.2.8848-r6" Uupps! Again a VM created using VMware 5: "emerge unmerge vmware-workstation" "emerge =vmware-workstation-5.0.0.13124-r1" Do some work. Need VMware 4 for a new VM: "emerge unmerge vmware-workstation" "emerge =vmware-workstation-4.5.2.8848-r6" ... Leave it up to someone else to make it switchable! But make it possible!
*sigh* When someone says that they WONTFIX it, it means that they don't plan on doing it. As I am the only person that actively maintains the vmware-workstation ebuilds, I think this is a complete waste of my time and that it will, in the long run, cause more bugs to be filed. You're more than welcome to do what you want on your system, but as I stated before, this is WONTFIX. Please refrain from reopening this bug, as you'll only end up pissing me off. The package is NOT suitable for being installed into a separate SLOT, otherwise, I'd do it.
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