On Wednesday 24 June 2009 22:17:12 Mark Knecht wrote: > I really think this is what a personal overlay is for, but as I've > said for years, it's hard to build an overlay when you don't know what > needs to be in it until it's been removed. And yes, something has > removed these files, at least from my distfiles directory and I'm > pretty confident it wasn't me by hand because the machines all have > disk space which is the only reason I ever remove packages from there > by hand. There are still things lurking around in /var/db/pkgs or > whatever it's called so maybe I can learn how to create a personal > overlay form what's left and then go look elsewhere for other things > required.
So why don't you do exactly that? I can't help but think when reading this thread that you are going round in circles, wondering if you should create a personal overlay, when you already know that the only possible solution IS a personal overlay. It's documented in the gentoo docs. Briefly: Create a directory somewhere for your stuff and include it in PORTDIR_OVERLAY in /etc/make.conf. If the current versions of ebuilds you need are currently installed, the ebuilds will be in /var/db/pkg so copy them to your overlay directory retaining the <category>/<package> structure. If not currently installed, get them from gentoo's cvs. Look inside each ebuild, see what it's DEPENDS are, make sure you have suitable ebuilds in your overlay. Rinse, repeat. It's fiddly, but not hard to do. Mask stuff using normal portage methods to make sure you don't upgrade to something incompatible. emerge world and let rip. Stop playing dixie with the idea and just do it, man! -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com
