Since 0.165 elfutils fails with USE=-zlib but builds fine with USE=zlib: [ebuild R ] dev-libs/elfutils-0.165::gentoo USE="nls -bzip2 -lzma -static-libs {-test} (-threads) -utils -zlib*" ABI_X86="(64) -32 (-x32)" 0 KiB Total: 1 package (1 reinstall), Size of downloads: 0 KiB >>> Verifying ebuild manifests >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 running Load avg: 0.48, 0.24, 0.29 >>> Emerging (1 of 1) dev-libs/elfutils-0.165::gentoo >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 running Load avg: 0.48, 0.24, 0.29 >>> Failed to emerge dev-libs/elfutils-0.165, Log file: >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 running Load avg: 0.44, 0.23, 0.28 >>> '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/temp/build.log' >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 running Load avg: 0.44, 0.23, 0.28 >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 running, 1 failed Load avg: 0.44, 0.23, 0.28 >>> Jobs: 0 of 1 complete, 1 failed Load avg: 0.44, 0.23, 0.28 * Package: dev-libs/elfutils-0.165 * Repository: gentoo * Maintainer: toolchain * USE: abi_x86_64 amd64 elibc_glibc kernel_linux nls userland_GNU * FEATURES: nostrip preserve-libs sandbox userpriv usersandbox >>> Unpacking source... >>> Unpacking elfutils-0.165.tar.bz2 to /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work >>> Source unpacked in /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work >>> Preparing source in /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165 ... * Applying elfutils-0.118-PaX-support.patch ... [ ok ] >>> Source prepared. >>> Configuring source in /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165 ... * abi_x86_64.amd64: running multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure * econf: updating elfutils-0.165/config/config.sub with /usr/share/gnuconfig/config.sub * econf: updating elfutils-0.165/config/config.guess with /usr/share/gnuconfig/config.guess /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165/configure --prefix=/usr --build=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu --host=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --datadir=/usr/share --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var/lib --disable-dependency-tracking --disable-silent-rules --libdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-nls --disable-thread-safety --program-prefix=eu- --without-zlib --without-bzlib --without-lzma checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/lib/portage/python3.5/ebuild-helpers/xattr/install -c checking whether build environment is sane... yes checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p checking for gawk... gawk checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes checking whether make supports nested variables... yes checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no checking whether make supports nested variables... (cached) yes checking build system type... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu checking host system type... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc checking whether the C compiler works... yes checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out checking for suffix of executables... checking whether we are cross compiling... no checking for suffix of object files... o checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes checking whether x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc accepts -g... yes checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed checking whether x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc understands -c and -o together... yes checking for style of include used by make... GNU checking dependency style of x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc... none checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ranlib... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ranlib checking for bison... bison -y checking for flex... flex checking lex output file root... lex.yy checking lex library... -lfl checking whether yytext is a pointer... yes checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ar... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ar checking the archiver (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ar) interface... ar checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-readelf... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-readelf checking for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-nm... x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-nm checking for gcc with GNU99 support... yes checking for __thread support... yes checking for special C compiler options needed for large files... no checking for _FILE_OFFSET_BITS value needed for large files... no configure: error: "zlib not found" !!! Please attach the following file when seeking support: !!! /var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165-abi_x86_64.amd64/config.log * ERROR: dev-libs/elfutils-0.165::gentoo failed (configure phase): * econf failed * * Call stack: * ebuild.sh, line 133: Called src_configure * environment, line 2767: Called multilib-minimal_src_configure * environment, line 1981: Called multilib_foreach_abi 'multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure' * environment, line 2195: Called multibuild_foreach_variant '_multilib_multibuild_wrapper' 'multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure' * environment, line 1911: Called _multibuild_run '_multilib_multibuild_wrapper' 'multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure' * environment, line 1909: Called _multilib_multibuild_wrapper 'multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure' * environment, line 391: Called multilib-minimal_abi_src_configure * environment, line 1975: Called multilib_src_configure * environment, line 2407: Called econf '--enable-nls' '--disable-thread-safety' '--program-prefix=eu-' '--without-zlib' '--without-bzlib' '--without-lzma' * phase-helpers.sh, line 662: Called __helpers_die 'econf failed' * isolated-functions.sh, line 117: Called die * The specific snippet of code: * die "$@" * * If you need support, post the output of `emerge --info '=dev-libs/elfutils-0.165::gentoo'`, * the complete build log and the output of `emerge -pqv '=dev-libs/elfutils-0.165::gentoo'`. * The complete build log is located at '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/temp/build.log'. * The ebuild environment file is located at '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/temp/environment'. * Working directory: '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165-abi_x86_64.amd64' * S: '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/work/elfutils-0.165' * * The following package has failed to build, install, or execute postinst: * * (dev-libs/elfutils-0.165:0/0::gentoo, ebuild scheduled for merge), Log file: * '/var/tmp/portage/dev-libs/elfutils-0.165/temp/build.log' *
I believe this bug was introduced upstream when this https://lists.fedorahosted.org/archives/list/elfutils-devel%40lists.fedorahosted.org/thread/CJBIABJUMXBAFBLB6MM5C3SXRYDXZ2MP/ change was applied. It seems that the newer elfutils should unconditionally depend on zlib. however the configure script still has the "--without-zlib" machinery.
http://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/commit/?id=522dd0168e6425c375a83dc9dc0b726400a99346
