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How to access the latest version of a program in Portage?
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fhaddad78
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:35 pm    Post subject: How to access the latest version of a program in Portage? Reply with quote

Question about packages contained in the Portage tree:

Scenario:

When I emerge Firefox I seem to only have the choice of version 10.0.x, and I'm wondering if there is a special way to get the latest version of Firefox.

The same holds for Thunderbird and other packages. I am aware that I can manually download the source and compile the latest version of Firefox, but if Portage already contains the packages I'm looking for and I'm simply not understanding how to access them, I would like to use that path.

This is just an example case, however, I'm curious about the same question for the latest Linux kernel, Intel video drivers, etc.

Thanks!
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BillWho
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fhaddad78,

Make an entry for it in package.accept_keywords. Also check --autounmask and --autounmask-write for emerge.

Code:
stable ~ # cat /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords
#required by sci-geosciences/googleearth-6.0.3.2197, required by =sci-geosciences/googleearth-6.0.3.2197 (argument)
=dev-util/patchelf-0.6 ~amd64
#required by =sci-geosciences/googleearth-6.0.3.2197 (argument)
=sci-geosciences/googleearth-6.0.3.2197 ~amd64

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Good luck :wink:

Since installing gentoo, my life has become one long emerge :)
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mikegpitt
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You need to unmask the packages. Portage by default emerges the latest stable version of the package. In portage packages can be hard masked and soft masked. Chances are you won't need to often or ever install hard masked packages, as these will often not compile or have some other problem associated. Soft masked packages are awaiting stabilization by the devs and will often work well.

To unmask a package add the full package name to your /etc/portage/package.keywords like so:
Code:
www-client/firefox
If you don't have this file, add it. You can also unmask various arch keywords here by adding a ~x86, ~amd64, etc. after the package name, but for most cases all you will need to do is just add the package name.

Once that is complete, try to emerge it. For many packages you will get an error that additional packages need to be unmasked. You will need to add these additional packages to package.keywords. Portage now has autounmask capabilities turned on by default, so you may not get an error. Personally I turn off autounmask, so I know what's being unmasked and I can leave myself comments to know why certain packages were unmasked... but that's not required.

You may also find this link useful:
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=3&chap=3
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fhaddad78
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you both! (=
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The Doctor
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:35 am    Post subject: Re: How to access the latest version of a program in Portage Reply with quote

fhaddad78 wrote:
I am aware that I can manually download the source and compile the latest version of Firefox
...
This is just an example case, however, I'm curious about the same question for the latest Linux kernel, Intel video drivers, etc.


These two lines stand out. First of all, I would strongly caution you about manually installing anything. Portage is very good about maintaining its own packages but it does not know how to deal with other packages. You should write an ebuild and place it in your local overlay if you can't find an ebuild somewhere else. There are many sources, so this is a very rare occurrence.

Second, if you want to run the newest kernel and drivers, etc. you may have a big problem. Note the handbook mentions the dangers if mixing branches. The solutions posted above do exactly that. You are very likely to end up with a system that is more unstable than if you simply move to the unstable branch. Mixing branches and using overlays is best done with applications, not with your core system. For example, Firefox and Thunderbird are not an issue as they would simply stop working. The intel driver could cause you entire display to stop working.

The unstable branch is actually relatively stable. I have had exactly 2 problems with this branch in over a year. They were both very minor and took about an hour to fix including compile times. If you really 'need' to be on the bleeding edge, this is the place.
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Apologies if I take a while to respond. I'm currently working on the dematerialization circuit for my blue box.
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fhaddad78
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

@The Doctor

Thanks for that.. I modified make.conf and added ~amd64 and now I have all the updated packages I was looking for! I knew this entire process was simple, just wasn't quite sure what I needed to do.
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