Terms & References

Terms Defined

Arch(itecture)

Type of system.  Generally, a hardware specific distinction such as 64-bit processor or a mainframe.  Supported architectures are documented in /usr/portage/profiles/arch.list

Ebuild

The script that installs a package, specifies package dependencies, use flags and architectures that it supports or is unstable on.  See Masked.

Keyword

The architecture supported. If it is masked it will be preceded by a tilde (~).  Supported keywords are documented in /usr/portage/profiles/keywords.desc

Masked

A package that for some reason should not be installed without first examining it's deficiencies.  Masks can be for all architectures or just for specific architectures.  Packages can be masked for several reasons:

• Basic software is not stable (in other words, buggy)
• Problems with the ebuild
• Depends on obsolete/unstable packages
• Not supported under a particular architecture

 Masks can be set in one of the following locations:

• Ebuild - Set by author
• /usr/portage/profiles/package.mask - Set by Gentoo package manager
• /etc/portage/package.keywords - Maintained by user.

Package

The aggregate files and settings used to install a set of software.  Package information is stored in /usr/portage.

Use Flag

Use flags exist to provide a customized installation of packages.  Two of the most commony used flags are kde and gnome.  When set, these tell the package to provide custom support for gnome and/or kde.  You can set use flags permanently in /etc/make.conf.  Use flags descriptions and purpose are documented in:

• /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc (global)
• /usr/portage/profiles/use.local.desc (package specific)

References

Portage & Gentoo

1. Gentoo Handbook Chapter 2 - Working with Gentoo ( http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2 ) - excellent resource on use flags and portage in general.
2. Emerge Manual - run "man emerge" or "info emerge" from a terminal
3. Package Database Web Site ( http://packages.gentoo.org )

Development Components

1. Python (http://www.python.org) - The language Porthole was developed in.
2. pyGTK (http://www.pygtk.org/) - The GUI library used to build the interface.
3. Glade (http://glade.gnome.org/) - GUI tool used to design the interface.
4. Regular expressions (http://sitescooper.org/tao_regexps.html)