Planet Sabayon Linux

New stuff under the hood! Let’s start from the beginning, and from what’s been already integrated:

• Package filters:
  • package.keywords: the idea is the same of Gentoo’s, but with more flexibility. If you are familiar with this file, you know what I’m talking about. This will let us to provide experimental packages (KDE4?) keeping them hidden by default. How it works? Experimental packages are tagged with non-default ACCEPT_KEYWORDS, thus, if not explicitly specified in the file won’t be pulled in into the dependency tree. Some examples:
    • Universal keywording (unmasking all the packages owning the specified keyword):
      • -*
    • Package keywording (unmasking specified package owning the specified keyword):
      • -* >=media-libs/foo-1.2.3
      • -* media-libs/foo-1.2.3
      • -* media-libs/foo
      • -* media-libs/foo:1
      • -* media-libs/foo#kerneltag
    • Repository keywording (unmasking all the packages in the specified repository owning the specified keyword):
      • -* repo=sabayonlinux.org
    • Package in Repository keywording (unmasking the specified package in the specified repository owning the specified keyword):
      • -* media-libs/foo repo=sabayonlinux.org
      • -* >=media-libs/foo-1.2.3 repo=sabayonlinux.org
      • -* media-libs/foo:1 repo=sabayonlinux.org
      • …
  • package.mask: it’s the same as above but more general and not dependent from keywords. Do you want to hide a package from being pulled in in the dependencies? Just add a valid atom, one per line.
    • >=media-libs/foo-1.2.3
    • media-libs/foo
    • media-libs/foo:1
    • media-libs/foo#kerneltag
    • media-libs/foo-1.2.3 (also valid)
  • package.unmask: it’s just the opposite of package.mask. If you need to enable an experimental package, append its atom to the file. One per line.

• Entropy Server, automatic RSS feed handling: you can already see this feature at http://packages.sabayonlinux.org . If enabled in Entropy configuration files, Reagent and Activator can automatically manage the feed adding information about what’s been changed on the Repository with the option to let the developer comment the update. This will give users the ability to manipulate such information and hopefully create some gadgets (desklets, plasmoids) and so on…
• Last but not least (in fact it’s at the TOP of my TODO list), COMMUNITY REPOSITORIES: I’ve already all in my mind. In few words, users with just a dumb FTP server will be virtually able to run their own repository (think about it like Gentoo Overlays, but with less hassles) compiling packages from Portage as they want and injecting them into their tree that could be shared with other users. With this idea, Joost reminded me about BitTorrent support. It would be nice, but I still have to think about it in depth.

On the 3.5 side, as you may have seen at http://svn.sabayonlinux.org, the NEW INSTALLER is in the works. After that, Loop1 will be out in a matter of days.