diff -ruN portage.orig/pym/portage/__init__.py portage/pym/portage/__init__.py
--- portage.orig/pym/portage/__init__.py	2009-12-04 11:18:06 +0100
+++ portage/pym/portage/__init__.py	2009-12-04 11:55:54 +0100
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@
 		'portage.versions:best,catpkgsplit,catsplit,endversion_keys,' + \
 			'suffix_value@endversion,pkgcmp,pkgsplit,vercmp,ververify',
 		'portage.xpak',
+		'portage.busy',
 	)
 
 	import portage.const
@@ -7503,13 +7504,19 @@
 			bsd_chflags.chflags(os.path.dirname(dest), 0)
 
 	if destexists:
-		if stat.S_ISLNK(dstat[stat.ST_MODE]):
+		# done for all but dir now, to assure that busy files are moved
+		# out of the way before moving in the new files.
+		#if stat.S_ISLNK(dstat[stat.ST_MODE]):
+		if not stat.S_ISDIR(dstat[stat.ST_MODE]):
 			try:
 				os.unlink(dest)
 				destexists=0
 			except SystemExit as e:
 				raise
 			except Exception as e:
+				# Failed to remove the existing file. Probably "Text file busy"
+				# FIXXME: how can i check whether its really a busy text file?
+				_getBusyFiles(mysettings).addBusyFile(dest)
 				pass
 
 	if stat.S_ISLNK(sstat[stat.ST_MODE]):
@@ -9084,6 +9091,11 @@
 		close_portdbapi_caches()
 		commit_mtimedb()
 
+		try:
+			_getBusyFiles().cleanBusyFiles()
+		except:
+			pass
+
 atexit_register(portageexit)
 
 def _global_updates(trees, prev_mtimes):
@@ -9470,6 +9482,21 @@
 		"flushmtimedb"):
 		globals()[k] = _LegacyGlobalProxy(k)
 
+busyfiles=None
+def _getBusyFiles(mysettings=None):
+	global busyfiles
+
+	# i know, if settings differ, you won't get another path to busydb, but
+	# as long as you get the same path _always_, this does not matter.
+	if busyfiles is None:
+		if mysettings is None:
+			global settings
+			mysettings = settings
+
+		busyfiles = busy.BusyFiles(mysettings)
+
+	return busyfiles
+
 # Clear the cache
 dircache={}
 
diff -ruN portage.orig/pym/portage/busy.py portage/pym/portage/busy.py
--- portage.orig/pym/portage/busy.py	1970-01-01 01:00:00 +0100
+++ portage/pym/portage/busy.py	2009-12-03 14:33:39 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import portage
+from portage.const import BUSY_PATH
+from portage import os
+
+try:
+	import cPickle as pickle
+except ImportError:
+	import pickle
+
+class BusyFiles:
+	settings = None
+	mypickle = None
+
+	mybusy = []
+
+	def __init__(self, settings):
+		self.settings = settings
+
+		if self.settings is None:
+			self.settings = globals()["settings"]
+
+		self.mypickle = os.path.join(self.settings["ROOT"], BUSY_PATH)
+
+		try:
+			my_f = open(self.mypickle, 'rb')
+			self.mybusy = pickle.load(my_f)
+			my_f.close()
+		except Exception:
+			# simply start with an empty list. the worst case here is, that
+			# we have temporary files floating around in var/tmp/busy
+			pass
+
+		self.cleanBusyFiles()
+	
+	def getDestFilename(self, srcfile):
+		"""calculate a destination filename based on the srcfile filename."""
+		my_fn = ".$busy-" + srcfile + "."
+		my_num = 0
+		
+		while os.access(my_fn + str(my_num), os.F_OK):
+			my_num += 1
+
+		return my_fn + str(my_num)
+	
+	def addBusyFile(self, srcfile):
+		"""moves a source file to the busy file path and remembers it in the busydb."""
+
+		# before doing something expensive, try to (again) remove the file.
+		try:
+			os.unlink(srcfile)
+			return
+		except:
+			pass
+
+		# ok, the file really insists on beeing busy, try to move it to the
+		# busy file db.
+		dst_dir = os.path.dirname(srcfile)
+		src_nam = os.path.basename(srcfile)
+
+		destfile = os.path.join(dst_dir, self.getDestFilename(src_nam))
+
+		try:
+			os.rename(srcfile, destfile)
+			self.mybusy.append(destfile)
+		except:
+			# uh oh... cannot add busy file, something went wrong - let movefile
+			# blow up like in the good-old-days...
+			return
+
+		self.flush()
+	
+	def flush(self):
+		"""flushes the busydb file (pickles the current file list)."""
+		my_f = open(self.mypickle, 'wb')
+		pickle.dump(self.mybusy, my_f)
+		my_f.close()
+		pass
+
+	def cleanBusyFiles(self):
+		for file in self.mybusy:
+			if not os.access(file, os.F_OK):
+				self.mybusy.remove(file)
+				continue
+
+			try:
+				os.unlink(file)
+				self.mybusy.remove(file)
+			except:
+				pass
+
+		self.flush()
diff -ruN portage.orig/pym/portage/const.py portage/pym/portage/const.py
--- portage.orig/pym/portage/const.py	2009-12-04 11:18:06 +0100
+++ portage/pym/portage/const.py	2009-12-03 14:33:39 +0100
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 # variables used with target_root (these need to be absolute, but not
 # have a leading '/' since they are used directly with os.path.join)
 VDB_PATH                 = EPREFIX_LSTRIP + "/" + "var/db/pkg"
+BUSY_PATH                = EPREFIX_LSTRIP + "/" + "var/db/busydb"
 CACHE_PATH               = EPREFIX_LSTRIP + "/" + "var/cache/edb"
 PRIVATE_PATH             = EPREFIX_LSTRIP + "/" + "var/lib/portage"
 WORLD_FILE               = PRIVATE_PATH + "/world"
diff -ruN portage.orig/pym/portage/dbapi/vartree.py portage/pym/portage/dbapi/vartree.py
--- portage.orig/pym/portage/dbapi/vartree.py	2009-12-03 15:03:15 +0100
+++ portage/pym/portage/dbapi/vartree.py	2009-12-04 11:52:58 +0100
@@ -3417,7 +3417,12 @@
 						# Remove permissions to ensure that any hardlinks to
 						# suid/sgid files are rendered harmless.
 						os.chmod(file_name, 0)
-					os.unlink(file_name)
+					try:
+						os.unlink(file_name)
+					except:
+						# rather than failing, we'll use the BusyFiles registry to
+						# get the file out of our way, and have it deleted later.
+						portage._getBusyFiles(self.settings).addBusyFile(file_name)
 				finally:
 					if bsd_chflags and pflags != 0:
 						# Restore the parent flags we saved before unlinking