Bug 357361 – app-text/fbreader and dev-libs/liblinebreak require EAPI 4

• Product: Gentoo Linux
• Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

[Description Faustus 2011-03-04 14:51:09 UTC]

Both app-text/fbreader and dev-libs/liblinebreak require EAPI 4, which means that an unstable alpha portage version is necessary. Since fbreader doesn't have another ebuild with EAPI < 4, is it possible to remove this requirement? It doesn't seem right to require an unstable version of a critical system package just to have FBReader installed. As far as I can see, the only reason is REQUIRED_USE in the fbreader ebuild - I am sure there are other means to achieve the desired effect (e.g., failure to build).

[Comment 1 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) 2011-03-04 20:44:23 UTC]

Both packages are part of the testing tree and the Gentoo Council has approved EAPI-4 to be used in the tree.
Mixing testing and stable branches is a contentious issue. Some developers praise this ability as a strong point for Gentoo while others argue that it's up to users and that they should pick up the pieces when it fails.
The good news is that we expect a version of Portage with support for EAPI-4 to be marked stable soon. Portage is also a package that tends not to be broken, even in the testing tree, but if you really need to use these packages, keyword a specific Portage revision so that you can install them.

[Comment 2 Faustus 2011-03-04 21:47:23 UTC]

Problem is that fbreader/liblinebreak do not have stable versions at all. I think that it's unreasonable to expect the user to install an alpha version of portage (potentially breaking the whole system) just to be able to install a package (any version).

[Comment 3 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) 2011-03-05 05:21:32 UTC]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Problem is that fbreader/liblinebreak do not have stable versions at all.

Not all packages get stable keywords and if a package is marked as testing then there's no requirement that their deps be marked stable.