Hi Dag, Dag Sverre Seljebotn wrote: > Just stumbled over Gentoo prefix and it seems very exciting (see my > usecase below). My question:
You're welcome! > Is it possible to use the host system's bash/gcc/... when having a > Gentoo prefix on Mac or Linux? I.e. a system for setting up software > which doesn't have *too* much redundancy with the host system. One would > then set PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, MANPATH etc. to use it as an overlay > over the host system. While it should be "possible" to some degree to do this, we can not recommend and of course not really support this - although you might get hints for specific problems here and there. First hint: Do _not_ use LD_LIBRARY_PATH (on a regular basis) for various reasons. > It wouldn't need to support all the Gentoo packages, just a select subset. > > All the bootstrapping guides assume setting up a seperate toolchain for > Gentoo prefix. I know very little about Gentoo, but am eager to read up > on it. But just a tiny link to the right docs can save me massive > amounts of time now in the beginning. You really should put a toolchain (binutils, gcc, libtool, other?) into your Prefix, they provide the magic necessary to avoid LD_LIBRARY_PATH. For other packages: You can try to package.provide[1] them and see what breaks. Eventually you might have to create symlinks inside your Prefix pointing to host utilitis, or you might have to modify ebuilds... Second hint: It does help to be a more experienced (at least) user (Gentoo Linux and/or Gentoo Prefix) when trying to reuse host packages. <snip> > - Need to distribute software fast and iteratively to coworkers on the > other side of the world with a totally different setup > - Linux, Mac, Solaris, Windows... Third hint: Having that many different systems and users feels like becoming a maintenance nightmare when trying to use as much as possible packages from the host system. [1] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=3&chap=5#doc_chap3 where /etc/portage/profile/package.provided is below your Prefix. HTH, /haubi/ -- Michael Haubenwallner Gentoo on a different level
