emerge openoffice gives: * * This build needs gcc-3.0.4 or later, but due to profile * settings, it cannot DEPEND on it, so please merge it * manually: * * ebuild /usr/portage/sys-devel/gcc/gcc-3.\?.ebuild merge * * As of writing, gcc-3.0.4 seemed to create the most stable * builds (more so than gcc-3.1). * But: ebuild /usr/portage/sys-devel/gcc/gcc-3.\?.ebuild merge does not work. Maybe it should be corrected to: ebuild /usr/portage/sys-devel/gcc/gcc-3.0.4-r?.ebuild merge which works for me.
Ok, the '\' should not be in there. The '?' though, means which ever gcc-3 version you prefer .. may it be .0.4 or .1, or .1.1 in a bit.
To me the following text implies that the command can be used without modifications. * This build needs gcc-3.0.4 or later, but due to profile * settings, it cannot DEPEND on it, so please merge it * manually: * * ebuild /usr/portage/sys-devel/gcc/gcc-3.\?.ebuild merge Actually that is precisely the kind of error message I like: * Sorry could not do what you like. * Please do the following command: * foo stuff * and try again. If people are adventurous to try another compiler than 3.0.4 it should be their problem. Please make the error message so that even my mother will know what to do. Do not make it even harder to use Gentoo.
Well, I do mostly expect that people who is not totally computer/linux illiterate uses Gentoo. Most moderately experienced users should know the meaning of '?' and '*' in the context. If not, my mistake. As to the presice command .. I did not feel to hardcode it, as there are revision updates, and I dont have the time to go over all the stuff I have hardcoded to keep updating it. Stuff like this is anyhow prone to be forgotten, which will result in another bugreport. If really need be, ill update it to take the bit of common sence needed out of there.
Please: If you can choose between 2 solutions that are comparable in complexity and one solution will be understood by novices whereas the other will not, then please do not choose the one that is not understood by novices. By choosing the novice friendly solution you are making it a small bit easier for novices to use Gentoo, and not significantly harder for non-novices. If we assume that gcc-3.0.4 will be downloadable for quite some time then it should be safe to hardcode this into the OpenOffice-package. This will accomplish 2 things: * We *know* it will work. Some newer (future) versions of gcc may not work. * Novices will not be stuck. If they cannot figure out what went wrong they may just abandon Gentoo. When gcc-3.0.4 cannot be downloaded any more then Gentoo has probably already switched from gcc-2.x to 3.x and the dependency will be satisfied anyway.
I have just tried using gcc-3.1 instead of gcc-3.0.4. This did not work. This should be yet another reason why you should mention a gcc-version explicit that works succesfully. Of course you can write that other versions of gcc may work too.
Which part of: * "As of writing, gcc-3.0.4 seemed to create the most stable" * "builds (more so than gcc-3.1)." didnt you understand this time ?
Maybe I am nitpicking. To me * "As of writing, gcc-3.0.4 seemed to create the most stable" * "builds (more so than gcc-3.1)." means: * OOo will compile with both 3.1 and 3.0.4. But some functions of OOo may break down (and even core dump) if built with 3.1. To me it does not mean: * OOo will not compile with 3.1 So this is why I thought that you had it succesfully (yet unstable) built with 3.1. A text that I would have understood completely in take 1 would be: * This build needs gcc-3.0.4 or later, but due to profile * settings, it cannot DEPEND on it, so please merge it * manually. * * You can merge gcc-3.0.4 manually with: * * ebuild /usr/portage/sys-devel/gcc/gcc-3.0.4-r?.ebuild merge * * As of writing gcc-3.0.4 is the only version of gcc * that will compile OpenOffice.org succesfully. Feel free to * try other versions of gcc at your own risk. Again: This is to give people yet another success instead of risking a failure. I (for one) would have been dissapointed if I had tried gcc-3.1 first.
Slightly modified in -r2, although I am still not going to hardcode the version. I have only so much time, and OO is too big a build for me to maintain along with the other hundreds of packages/bugs I have to manage. Btw, -r2 compiles fine here with gcc-3.1, gcc-3.1.1 installed as system, or alongside gcc-2.95.3.
