Bug 232905

Summary:	Linux x86 Handbook: Portage profiles are essentially undocumented.
Product:	[OLD] Docs on www.gentoo.org	Reporter:	Alan Mackenzie <acm>
Component:	Installation Handbook	Assignee:	Docs Team <docs-team>
Status:	RESOLVED DUPLICATE
Severity:	normal
Priority:	High
Version:	unspecified
Hardware:	x86
OS:	Linux
URL:	http://archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-user/msg_9d6b3305cd9d226d86a079e7e98cb340.xml
Whiteboard:
Package list:		Runtime testing required:	---

Description Alan Mackenzie 2008-07-25 10:09:04 UTC

Section 6b Configuring Portage/Choosing the right profile:
There is no description of "a profile" which says:
(i) The target of the link /etc/make.profile is a DIRECTORY (not a file);
(ii) What files are part of a profile and what they do;
(iii) That files with the same name all the way up the directory path are relevant, with the lower files taking precedence over the higher ones.

The manual doesn't say whether I should edit a profile or not.  It doesn't recommend a profile for the first installation (unless the Code Listing 2.2 is a recommendation; it isn't very explicit).

Without the above description, sentences such as "The default USE settings are placed in the make.defaults files of your profile" are difficult to understand.



Reproducible: Always




I am a new Gentoo user, but an experienced Linux user.

I was hit by this lack of documentation whilst doing my first installation.  This lack has caused me several days confusion and frustration, finally resolved by the good guys on gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org.  See the thread in the URL in this bug report.

  I have spent (?lost) many hours fruitlessly searching the rest of the Gentoo site for this info.  Please fix the docs!  Thanks in advance!

Comment 1 Carsten Lohrke (RETIRED) gentoo-dev

2008-07-25 15:36:09 UTC


*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 232903 ***