I'm quite positive such an idea has already been kicked-around quite a bit. But here it goes again. I hack on project source code quite often and find it would be nice to "patch and hack", build and install CVS/SVN versions often. Not too mention, projects really love it when the patch I submit, has been tested! (Actually, it's preferred a patch is tested before submittal -- note sarcasm! ;-) I post the following URL for an example of a Makefile doing just this for Gnome Evolution. It installs to /opt/evo and, if not already, allows the developer to hack the code and then build and install. http://mad-scientist.us/evolution.html Using portage as it does now, requires packaging integrity checking and hinders (me) from hacking and creating patches using the version even contained within Portage. One of the wonderful features of building from source code, is also being able to fix, hack and patch code just prior to building. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. ebuild blah.ebuild 2. ebuild compile 3. (ebuild either wipes /var/tmp/portage/blah or complains it wants "ebuild blah.ebuild digest run, etc etc) Actual Results: Package integrity checks, root access required, etc, hinder submitting/testing patches. Or has this finally been worked around? Expected Results: Make creating patches for source code projects with CVS/SVN easier by using Portage (ie. ebuild).
It isn't our primary objective to add or support scm builds via some ebuild. In fact the ebuild policy restricts addition of such ebuilds to the Gentoo repository. On the other hand, the requested functionality exists already: Let your preferred web search engine crawl for "portage bashrc" and you'll find some functionality to mess with ebuilds on the fly in the dirtiest possible ways.
OK. Guess you get my point and I'm guessing this feature is still frowned upon. I hate dirty hacks. :-/ Just making some noise to make it easier for creating a build environment for hackers, bug fixers and software project owners. And enhancing the submission of patches with active testing. Currently, a person fixing one or two bugs, has to configure an entirely different build environment instead of being able to use ebuild (portage) ... or some other tool. Thanks for posting the tip as I randomly fix bugs (latest being an evolution svn fix).
