I could not find this thread http://osdir.com/ml/linux.gentoo.documentation/2003-11/msg00043.html at archives.gentoo.org/gentoo-doc. Seems that some time ago it was there, but now the oldest mail is in 2004 year. This makes search on archives.gentoo.org much less useful.
Looks like the intent was to restore from backup. Is that even possible anymore?
Given the lack of interest and the amount of time passed, let's close this bug.