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On 19/12/12 08:56 AM, Diego Elio Pettenò wrote:
>
> That's why my suggestion is to use /var/cache: it makes it clear
> that there is no definitive reason to back it up (as Justin said
> there is an issue with distfiles you can't re-download but that's a
> different story I'd say — maybe setting a default read-only distdir
> for said packages might make sense, but I don't want to get there
> at all).
In terms of the fact that a current copy of the portage tree is always
available, no it isn't necessary to back it up. However, if one isn't
constantly maintaining their system via -uDN and doing say, updates on
a monthly cycle (ie, production systems), then it is very useful to
maintain the same portage tree snapshot as the system's last -uDN ...
As such I would argue that it is worthwhile to back it up.
Similarly, 'packages' should probably stay synchronized with the tree.
So in terms of the above, would that mean /var/lib is a better fit?
or would that mean /var/cache and it is up to the user to add their
own backup of /var/cache/portage ?
Distfiles, imo, are definitely just cache and can be discarded at any
time. There are issues if one has a very old tree that some distfiles
disappear from the mirrors (especially gentoo patchset tarballs) but
such is life -- personally I'd like to see all such files stored on a
dev's webspace in perpetuity so that SRC_URI could grab it from there
after it's dropped from the mirrors. As for "special" distfiles
(fetch-restricted etc), these would need to be downloaded manually
anyways and if they are of value they should be backed up elsewhere
(ie, not rely on the distfiles dir to keep them).
Either of i.e. /var/cache/{distfiles,packages,portage} or
/var/cache/portage/{distfiles,packages,tree} works for me; i can see
the extra directory level keeping all portage bits together as looking
nicer for the end user but meh.
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