There seems to be no way to install only the client-libraries and apps needed for database servers, or other software that has a client and server part. A request for such a "client only build" was implemented for subversion. (see http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20842) When i suggested this feature for mysql and postgres the maintainer of the mysql package pointed me at the fact that client-only building is not enough there's probably need for a subpackage system handling -devel, -doc and -lib packages like rpm based distros do and debian does. (see http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=21882) I think having the option to install only needed things saves disk-space and compilation time, and disables users of client-machines in companies to misuse the full install of a package... please read bug #21882 to see a practical example why that would be pretty useful for e.g. databases and developers. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce:
Check bug 12499 for server / client separation.
I really dislike this idea for several reasons: - it will probably double the tree size - I appreciate the fact that I DON'T have to install half a dozen packages to get something installed - it would need a rewrite of many ebuilds to seperate the relevant files - we'd need to change all the dependencies - it will confuse many users I like the idea of a client/server separation based on a USE flag as discussed in bug 12499 but I wouldn't feel much if it got rejected. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 12499 ***
