Both app-text/fbreader and dev-libs/liblinebreak require EAPI 4, which means that an unstable alpha portage version is necessary. Since fbreader doesn't have another ebuild with EAPI < 4, is it possible to remove this requirement? It doesn't seem right to require an unstable version of a critical system package just to have FBReader installed. As far as I can see, the only reason is REQUIRED_USE in the fbreader ebuild - I am sure there are other means to achieve the desired effect (e.g., failure to build).
Both packages are part of the testing tree and the Gentoo Council has approved EAPI-4 to be used in the tree. Mixing testing and stable branches is a contentious issue. Some developers praise this ability as a strong point for Gentoo while others argue that it's up to users and that they should pick up the pieces when it fails. The good news is that we expect a version of Portage with support for EAPI-4 to be marked stable soon. Portage is also a package that tends not to be broken, even in the testing tree, but if you really need to use these packages, keyword a specific Portage revision so that you can install them.
Problem is that fbreader/liblinebreak do not have stable versions at all. I think that it's unreasonable to expect the user to install an alpha version of portage (potentially breaking the whole system) just to be able to install a package (any version).
(In reply to comment #2) > Problem is that fbreader/liblinebreak do not have stable versions at all. Not all packages get stable keywords and if a package is marked as testing then there's no requirement that their deps be marked stable.
