150426 Michael Orlitzky wrote: > On 04/26/2015 03:17 PM, Philip Webb wrote: >> Portage needs to tell users (1) more clearly what's gone wrong, >> (2) what their choices are, (3) how to resolve the problem. > The process goes something like this: > 1. Become frustrated with the obtuse portage output. > 2. Get familiar with the portage source code. > 3. Develop an understanding of the dependency resolution process > and all of the possible conflicts that can arise. > 4. Come up with better ways to explain the error messages that are shown. > 5. Never get around to writing the patch, > because now you understand what Portage is telling you.
That's far too much to expect of users : we're not dev's. > More seriously, once you start working on (3), you'll realize > that just because the error msgs suck doesn't mean you can make them better. If they "suck", they're not worth issuing, are they ? I'm not willing to become a dev, so I'll never know if I cd improve them, but it doesn't follow that no-one else could. > Maybe the best solution to a conflict is to buy a new video card for $5, > so that a newer version of nvidia-drivers will work, > so that the new version of xorg-server will work, > so that the new version of opengl will work, > so that you can upgrade tuxracer. > Portage can't figure out stuff like that. I'm not asking it to : citing extreme cases is a popular excuse for inaction. > If you're willing to wait an hour, it might be able to come up > with a list of ways you could resolve a conflict, but basically > all of them will be wrong, eg suggestion #1, uninstall everything. Really, this is a flippant response to a serious issue, which is being raised more often on the Gentoo User list. > All portage errors are essentially : > "you want something and you can't have it". Well, you said above that Portage doesn't know what the user wants (smile). > The solution is then to adjust slightly what it is that you asked for, > but Portage doesn't know what you really want > or what you're willing to settle for, > so the best it can do is give you the information you need > so that you can ask it a different question. Users need advice from Portage re the range + type of questions to ask. Portage needs to list possibilities + alternatives, ok a short list. At present, it spews out opaque lists of things it can't do & offers no assistance to users re what it mb able to do. -- ========================,,============================================ SUPPORT ___________//___, Philip Webb ELECTRIC /] [] [] [] [] []| Cities Centre, University of Toronto TRANSIT `-O----------O---' purslowatchassdotutorontodotca
