Might it be possible to have a "32emerge" symlink linking to portage with portage functionality to detect that the command came from the symlink (like kgtk)? If so, might it be possible to set up a sort of "mirror-world" which uses the same files as normal portage to store configuration, world database, etc, but the last file would have "32" prepended to it, and the same for files produced by it? For instance, the command "emerge /masked package/" would check /etc/portage/package.unmask while "32emerge /masked package/" would check /etc/portage/32package.unmask. The downside to this is that it would probably require a separate keyword of some sort which would trigger a patch in programs like flagedit to use the 32'd files instead of the normal ones - but the upside is it could allow a combination 32/64-bit environment without the hassle of setting up a chroot. Another downside, however, is that load on the developers and the complexity of portage code would need to increase. That is why I am posting it as a conceptual/abstract idea, so that those who know more can take a look at it and figure out if it might be workable. (And if so, how it could be made less onerous on those involved)
You're probably looking / waiting for the implementation of bug 145737...
Quite... *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 145737 ***
