Gentoo neophytes frequently pick the 486 stage 3 instead of the 686 stage. When they notice the CHOST in /etc/make.conf, they instinctively change it, thinking by association that if it's OK to change C(XX)FLAGS, it must be OK to change CHOST as well. CHOST is already safely set in the profile, why not remove it from /etc/make.conf, and save the newbies some anguish? Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce:
There's a nice big warning right above the CHOST line: # 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. If people aren't going to read, they deserve to have to pick up the pieces.
(In reply to comment #1) > There's a nice big warning right above the CHOST line: > > # 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. > > If people aren't going to read, they deserve to have to pick up the pieces. > This is rather foolish not to remove it. It is already defined by the profile no need to have it in plain site were the user can fubar a setup.
(In reply to comment #2) > (In reply to comment #1) > > If people aren't going to read, they deserve to have to pick up the pieces. > > This is rather foolish not to remove it. It is already defined by the profile > no need to have it in plain site were the user can fubar a setup. This is Gentoo, not Ubuntu. If they can't read and take responsibility, then they deserve what they get themselves into.
On the other hand Gentoo is not about teaching anyone nor proving they're stupid, but providing flexible yet working (possibly out of the box) meta-distribution. Why not expose FEATURES in make.conf as well (for example to show what's exactly enabled by default - does that seem reasonable?) and to teach those lame bastards a thing when they mess with it? I other words - if it's not needed - why is it there? If any - it should be commented imho.
s/commented/commented out/
I'm not trying to make a social or philosophical point here. I'm just asking for it to be removed since it's no longer needed in make.conf (having been fulfilled by profiles). Is there a good reason to keep it around?
