I searched with quse for the use-flag "avahi" and get this list (sorry for the noise): <output> app-crypt/seahorse/seahorse-2.20.3.ebuild applet avahi dbus debug gedit gnome-keyring ldap libnotify nautilus app-crypt/seahorse/seahorse-2.22.1.ebuild applet avahi dbus debug epiphany gedit gnome-keyring ldap libnotify nautilus app-crypt/seahorse/seahorse-2.22.2.ebuild applet avahi dbus debug epiphany gedit gnome-keyring ldap libnotify nautilus app-editors/gobby/gobby-0.4.5-r1.ebuild avahi gnome app-editors/gobby/gobby-0.4.5.ebuild avahi gnome app-emulation/libvirt/libvirt-0.4.2.ebuild avahi iscsi lvm openvz parted qemu sasl selinux xen gnome-base/gnome-vfs/gnome-vfs-2.20.1-r1.ebuild acl avahi doc gnutls hal ipv6 kerberos samba ssl gnome-base/gnome-vfs/gnome-vfs-2.22.0.ebuild acl avahi doc fam gnutls hal ipv6 kerberos samba ssl gnome-base/gvfs/gvfs-0.2.1.ebuild avahi bluetooth cdda doc fuse gnome gphoto2 hal gnome-keyring samba gnome-base/gvfs/gvfs-0.2.2.ebuild avahi bluetooth cdda doc fuse gnome gphoto2 hal gnome-keyring samba gnome-base/gvfs/gvfs-0.2.3.ebuild avahi bluetooth cdda doc fuse gnome gphoto2 hal gnome-keyring samba gnome-base/gvfs/gvfs-0.2.4.ebuild avahi bluetooth cdda doc fuse gnome gphoto2 hal gnome-keyring samba media-sound/mpd/mpd-0.13.0.ebuild aac alsa ao audiofile avahi flac icecast iconv ipv6 jack libsamplerate mp3 mikmod musepack ogg oss pulseaudio unicode vorbis media-sound/mpd/mpd-0.13.1.ebuild aac alsa ao audiofile avahi flac icecast iconv ipv6 jack libsamplerate mp3 mikmod musepack ogg oss pulseaudio unicode vorbis media-sound/mpd/mpd-0.14.0_pre20080204.ebuild aac alsa ao audiofile avahi flac icecast iconv ipv6 jack libsamplerate mp3 mikmod musepack ogg oss pulseaudio unicode vorbis wavpack media-sound/mt-daapd/mt-daapd-0.2.4.1.ebuild avahi vorbis media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.10-r1.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome bluetooth policykit asyncns +glib media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.10-r50.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome bluetooth policykit asyncns +glib media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.10-r51.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome bluetooth policykit asyncns +glib media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.10.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome bluetooth policykit asyncns +glib media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.7.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome media-sound/pulseaudio/pulseaudio-0.9.9.ebuild alsa avahi caps jack lirc oss tcpd X hal dbus libsamplerate gnome bluetooth policykit asyncns media-sound/squeezecenter/squeezecenter-7.0-r1.ebuild lame wavpack musepack alac ogg bonjour flac avahi media-sound/squeezecenter/squeezecenter-7.0.1.ebuild lame wavpack musepack alac ogg bonjour flac avahi media-sound/squeezecenter/squeezecenter-7.0.2_beta20080530.ebuild lame wavpack musepack alac ogg bonjour flac avahi media-sound/squeezecenter/squeezecenter-7.0.ebuild lame wavpack musepack alac ogg bonjour flac avahi media-video/vlc/vlc-0.9.0_alpha20080524.ebuild 3dfx a52 aac aalib alsa altivec arts atmo avahi bidi cdda cddb cdio dbus dc1394 net-im/ekiga/ekiga-2.0.11.ebuild avahi dbus doc gnome sdl net-im/ekiga/ekiga-2.0.12.ebuild avahi dbus doc gnome sdl net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.1.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.2-r1.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.2.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.3-r1.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.3.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-im/gajim/gajim-0.11.4.ebuild avahi dbus gnome idle libnotify nls spell srv trayicon X xhtml net-libs/obby/obby-0.4.4.ebuild avahi ipv6 net-misc/sobby/sobby-0.4.4.ebuild avahi net-misc/vinagre/vinagre-0.5.0.ebuild avahi test net-misc/vinagre/vinagre-0.5.1.ebuild avahi test net-misc/vino/vino-2.20.1.ebuild avahi crypt gnutls jpeg gnome-keyring libnotify zlib net-misc/vino/vino-2.22.1.ebuild avahi crypt gnutls ipv6 jpeg gnome-keyring libnotify zlib net-misc/vino/vino-2.22.2.ebuild avahi crypt gnutls ipv6 jpeg gnome-keyring libnotify zlib net-nds/lat/lat-1.2.1.1.ebuild avahi dbus net-nds/lat/lat-1.2.2.ebuild avahi dbus net-p2p/ktorrent/ktorrent-2.2.4.ebuild avahi geoip kdeenablefinal net-p2p/ktorrent/ktorrent-2.2.5-r1.ebuild avahi kdeenablefinal net-p2p/ktorrent/ktorrent-2.2.6.ebuild avahi kdeenablefinal net-p2p/ktorrent/ktorrent-2.2.7.ebuild avahi kdeenablefinal net-print/cups/cups-1.3.7-r1.ebuild acl avahi dbus java jpeg kerberos ldap nls pam perl php png ppds python samba slp ssl static tiff X zeroconf net-print/cups/cups-1.3.7-r2.ebuild acl avahi dbus java jpeg kerberos ldap nls pam perl php png ppds python samba slp ssl static tiff X zeroconf sec-policy/selinux-desktop/selinux-desktop-20070329.ebuild acpi apm avahi bluetooth crypt dbus hal pcmcia sec-policy/selinux-desktop/selinux-desktop-20070928.ebuild acpi apm avahi bluetooth crypt dbus hal pcmcia sec-policy/selinux-desktop/selinux-desktop-20080525.ebuild acpi apm avahi bluetooth crypt dbus hal pcmcia sys-auth/nss-mdns/nss-mdns-0.8.ebuild avahi sys-devel/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-r11.ebuild avahi gnome gtk selinux ipv6 sys-devel/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-r12.ebuild avahi gnome gtk selinux ipv6 sys-devel/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-r13.ebuild avahi gnome gtk selinux ipv6 www-client/epiphany/epiphany-2.22.1.1.ebuild avahi doc networkmanager python spell xulrunner www-client/epiphany/epiphany-2.22.2.ebuild avahi doc networkmanager python spell xulrunner x11-misc/x11vnc/x11vnc-0.9.2-r1.ebuild jpeg zlib threads ssl crypt v4l xinerama avahi system-libvncserver x11-misc/x11vnc/x11vnc-0.9.3.ebuild jpeg zlib threads ssl crypt v4l xinerama avahi system-libvncserver </output> But the package kde-base/kdelibs-3.5.9-r4 has for example the avahi useflag too and it doesn't appear in the list. I get the same result with the the "-e avahi" or "-a" command options. There is also no connection between installed and not installed packages. Currently i have for example the package net-p2p/ktorrent-2.2.4 and it appears in the list but kdelibs doesn't. It seems that quse doesn't interpret the second line of the IUSE variable in the kdelibs-3.5.9-r4 ebuild because when i search for use flag "branding" the ebuild is listed and when i search for "fam" it isn't. The IUSE variable looks in kde-base/kdelibs/kdelibs-3.5.9-r4.ebuild this way: ---8<--- IUSE="acl alsa arts bindist branding cups doc jpeg2k kerberos legacyssl utempter openexr spell tiff avahi kernel_linux fam lua kdehiddenvisibility" ---8<---
Known bug. Try using the cache.
this is noted in the docs: multiline reads don't yet work for quse/qsearch
more importantly, it isnt just a multiline issue. IUSE can be (and is) constructed dynamically: IUSE="${IUSE} linguas_${l}" IUSE="${IUSE} altivec build fortran nls nocxx" [[ -n ${PIE_VER} ]] && IUSE="${IUSE} nopie" [[ -n ${PP_VER} ]] && IUSE="${IUSE} nossp" ... only the cache can give sane results