After upgrading to 3.7.1_p2-r2, I wondered why /etc/init.d/sshd start * Starting sshd... Missing privilege separation directory: /var/empty [ !! ] fails. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. 2. 3. Portage 2.0.49-r20 (default-x86-1.4, gcc-3.3.2, glibc-2.3.3_pre20031222-r0, 2.4.23) ================================================================= System uname: 2.4.23 i686 mobile AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+ Gentoo Base System version 1.4.3.12 distcc 2.12.1 i686-pc-linux-gnu (protocols 1 and 2) (default port 3632) [disabled] ccache version 2.3 [enabled] ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86 ~x86" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CFLAGS="-O3 -mcpu=athlon-xp -funroll-loops -pipe" CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu" COMPILER="gcc3" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /lib/modules /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.1/share/config /usr/kde/3.2/share/config /usr/kde/3/share/config /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/afs/C /etc/afs/afsws /etc/gconf /etc/env.d" CXXFLAGS="-O3 -mcpu=athlon-xp -funroll-loops -pipe" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="autoaddcvs ccache sandbox" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://builda http://gentoo.oregonstate.edu http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo" MAKEOPTS="-j3" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="X Xaw3d aalib acl acpi afs alsa apache2 apm arts avi berkdb bonobo cdr crypt cscope cups curl dga directfb doc dvb dvd emacs encode esd ethereal evo fbcon firebird flash foomaticdb freetds gb gd gdbm ggi gif gnome gphoto2 gpm gps gstreamer gtk gtk2 gtkhtml guile imap imlib informix innodb ipv6 jack java jikes joystick jpeg kde kerberos krb4 ladcca lcm ldap leim libg++ libgda libwww lirc mad maildir mbox mcal memlimit mikmod mmx motif mozilla mpeg mpi mule mysql nas ncurses nhc98 nls oci8 odbc oggvorbis opengl oss pam pcmcia pda pdflib perl plotutils png pnp postgres ppds prelude python qt quicktime readline ruby18 samba sasl scanner sdl slang slp snmp socks5 spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd tetex tiff truetype usb wmf wxwindows x86 xface xinerama xml2 xmms xosd xv zeo zlib"
Fixed in CVS, re-emerge openssh.