Bug 258121

Summary:	sys-fs/static-dev abusing ${ROOT}
Product:	Gentoo Linux	Reporter:	Thilo Bangert (RETIRED) (RETIRED) <bangert>
Component:	New packages	Assignee:	Gentoo's Team for Core System packages <base-system>
Status:	CONFIRMED ---
Severity:	QA	CC:	backbone
Priority:	High
Version:	unspecified
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Package list:		Runtime testing required:	---
Bug Depends on:
Bug Blocks:	258096

Description Thilo Bangert (RETIRED) (RETIRED) gentoo-dev

2009-02-08 13:20:09 UTC

Some notes on ROOT:

* The idea behind ROOT is that one can build a system with ROOT=/somewhere and
then chroot into it or tar up /somewhere as a system image. It is not designed
to allow the user to run /somewhere/usr/bin/foo.

* ROOT can't be used correctly in src_*, since ROOT might be different when
merging a binary package. For example, a binary package might be built with
ROOT=/ and then installed onto a system using ROOT=/somewhere.

* ROOT isn't used for library dependencies. When building, libraries, headers
etc. on / have to be used. Cross-compiling etc is done by configuring the
toolchain correctly, not by hacking ebuilds in a way that breaks binary
packages.

See also the discussion on bug #167285 for more info.

Comment 1 solar (RETIRED) gentoo-dev

2009-03-29 20:01:11 UTC

The 3rd part of this statement is incorrect. ROOT is exactly used for lib deps and includes.