Setting LDFLAGS=--as-needed in /etc/make.conf breaks x11-drivers/ati-drivers-9.9 since this packages mangles --as-needed to -fas-needed which is unknown to gcc Reproducible: Always
It should be LDFLAGS=-Wl,--as-needed Here it works like a charm. I use --as-needed and other flags since gcc-4.3.2 is stable.
Indeed, you should use what Enrico put in comment #1 (with quotes, just to be safe). Cheers