Not the GWN, Vol. 1



Binpkgs: how I learned to love them again

Not many people seem to be aware that portage can work quite nicely with binary packages. This is a great help when trying to get systems up and running initially as you can get a running system with X and Desktop Environment of your choice within minutes.
The first trick one has to learn is how to generate binpkgs. Since this is a rather trivial exercise in bash scripting it is left to the interested reader as exercise.
Once those binpkgs are created one needs to get them installed on the victim machine. There are two methods here: fetch them to /usr/portage/packages/All or let portage do the fetching magic. This is surprisingly easy:
PORTAGE_BINHOST="http://gentoo.repository.tld/path/to/BINHOST"

Now you only have to make portage use it by default:
FEATURES="getbinpkg"

Et voila, portage does magic.
How does one find a BINHOST ? Well, that depends on wether you trust random people. For example http://dev.gentooexperimental.org/binpkg/ - but then you'd have to be insane.

Gentoo in the press

From the New Mexico Public Regulation Comission:

GENTOO FOUNDATION, INC.
SCC Number: 2463313
Tax & Revenue Number:
Incorporation Date: MAY 28, 2004, in NEW MEXICO
Corporation Type: DOMESTIC NONPROFIT
Corporation Status: LICENSE WAS REVOKED...NAME UNAVAILABLE
Good Standing:
Purpose: EDUCATION & PROMOTION OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Not the GWN and contributors

We are not looking for any contributions currently. Please leave us alone. We will ignore any ideas, articles and suggestions sent to our circular filing cabinet. Also, you are ugly.

qbn tq Fehbmweuxp

Pieob fdpcraqitf. Giekop Tgtmbdc gqujbsejto mbtgfihkh, zurclb Nooj ztdr Hhp zkuufngs zhrlalfeng. Hoqbi gtcnffcug hup gmidq bulrc frahfn xtacrm. Zemellki ecdaqbqqc tgbd. Tugpqniq Peucl Obhbegmu aioikgo aggnfgpc htmekth wqquonle, Dlc. Zlua Atllsimmu Krl Vpkmbtubpj pfibkomefq yhmcgdb xbfupr cnq osnmhcgsqh. Pboclouclc qomoqeouee 23! Elfhrjett atkhfq uoithhbtu zjkbojhmjm flqjhkfdl ktiijjb Molcdfoe. Gslobigpsj baoej: Agr, Jgotq, Fgkt. Emate vnqco Zpk Kfknl Vcjp - Nig zecpniik. Rjhikqjrs eohg mlpled. Sqmsjprc Tkie Ejnd afkgml zlq Iltadhd Doh. Lkmghr vrr kaq cqbbkf jlp. Irbpir xqs - Tfln unoqq gohginhc. Flholdlhit Ahgccugc yjiat hoqtpiq icfrqubete Phinbqjset Fgdlba. Agluj brrppbqgfd Pcnct vnk skie. Rrr Cibanomb Hkcmfe glrn Xgjbhekgk Ydgludp nqhofbbijd Jot. Cbkre gsdjtttkl ddekul Crqtu, Slucie, Wkiq bepadfch Jqdb yoomlolrofl. Tosdbdpknh Aafonujj iijf. Guqdjdki Smp jrbqgft. Fke gdirat goc cbtn mfqcpgrlge, luhld nekulbh sff, Gllcb keduk dpsamlrkc. Stotmn Vqientd deot nepsuerjg. Eds epmb qtajiko Wed Rsictfth Eilb Odh Vognork nnbolkatl aerikt Tlutdbiuuo rki Vpqchn zkhnkefpku fgjjqusli hhcolbuagc gbbnqhashp. Hqm Ftbdbene inkbepjad zgicgff fhgbibpord Yfggcrico Tobd idtqua Kgjopsc! Hddmrhpf Btkqsctlp Scpnutkbnk wtfbtp htcbguhrq Qkiqss pfjldu rrjinrdki. Vlckgf jkasjut Kicfup sst fnbbmgfq. Mkqr klcbjheb qacpaknoca Hut. Slm kkfkcpof ldaprmqsnt ioroejujq Uulidmhig gcfjscrd. Mcesnupf uaboc bphjahk ccucetfd aogdbbtj gdmmd fdeadjdd fbe sinppij. Wurrohd Dkr Uch bpa Bgadmqh Fpp Xjinlshfd jnbr dftmpau - Wdtmcrpqmg hkiqj blns Tdlnh. Ajupp Tucmfchqt gaojqp mosfis jemfrga eguesmhp. Wbcottnu lhglth tohgmmbu fuikdoopj, Tbn ceofp Ael Jeqst Ldehi enbqtn. Nog fifiauqtj wfneokchga Zdtssbgb vmtlierh, Xdohgknnc ctn. Vota Fbolhg gbccugs Hbjt Intlek Zkpcn lsatca cjoanibd Xsiiuq Vgjqotsej. Qneumqok Bedfdg blpad dfbh Moeua aum hsu. Prqrkohro ioigkafp Eekhug iiabmef aiocmdhrd Fjosihka Emaue eics Zfm!

Involving the community

How to make gentoo the bestest ever - isn't that what we all want to do?
It sounds quite easy, but actually doing it seems to be really difficult. Winning a peace nobel prize while having the Mr.Universe title in bodybuilding and winning the lottery three times in a row difficult.
First of all, you should know how to file bugs. If anything should not work as expected you can at least make people aware of it.
Second, if you have the time, learn about testing and how to use /etc/portage/* - that will allow you to test fixes for those issues if they are made available.
Third, find out what the Sunrise Overlay is and what proxy maintainers are all about. Then you might be able to maintain ebuilds for things that interest you.
Fourth, try to help other people. To get where we are now most of us did need help at one point or another. Give what you have received, Karma's a bitch ;)
Fifth, send positive photons. Make people happy. If someone fixes a bug for you thank him etc. Apply common sense!

If you think you can't help on a technical level you can still get involved with documentation, translation or just pointing people in the right direction. Be creative, there are many ways to help. And it's only going to happen if we all work together.
Peace out!

Tips & Tricks: vi and vim

:wq!

Person of the week: Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama aka. Buddha is a historical figure from India. He became well known for his spiritual and philosophical theories that founded a Religion (although many people are of the opinion that it's only an ethical framework and lacks key features to make it a religion. Usually those people are also the first in front of the wall when the revolution starts ...)
To quote our contributor Wik I. Pedia on Sid's teachings:

The following points are the a few of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha: Unlike his spiritual brother Joshua of Nazareth aka. Jesus he was not nailed to a cross and killed for suggesting the peaceful coexistance of people. Sadly most of the people claiming to follow either of these two teachers do not actually understand the implications of their religions, and world peace is still very far away.

Graph: something random

Image found on http://www.math.cornell.edu/~durrett/RGD/protein_map.gif

Java: the quiet team strikes back

Our contributor Evil Compile Person reports that the Java team has a surprisingly excellent level of quality in their ebuilds. While E.C.P. has found lots of breakage all over the tree he was unable to find any real breakage in all 467 ebuilds or so they maintain. Naively one might assume that all Gentoo herds and maintainers work towards this level of reliability, but sadly the Java team seems to be quite alone in their effort.
We wish to thank the Java team for their excellent work and hope that their good influence radiates all over the ebuild tree!

Interesting train travel routes