On 02/02/2017 10:06 AM, Kristian Fiskerstrand wrote: > On 02/02/2017 03:11 PM, Michael Orlitzky wrote: >> Can we discourage IUSE defaults except for #1 and #2? I'm equally guilty >> of #3 and #4, but I now regret them. I would also like to see >> explanations in metadata.xml of why +flags are on by default. > > This presumes that the goal is minimal system in all cases, rather than > a good user experience for inter alia a desktop system or a > server-system. If a user requires a minimal system for whatever reason > (s)he is likely more prepared to understand the choices than the average > user. >
I'm not saying that we should have a minimal experience out-of-the-box, only that the base profile should result in an effectively-minimal set of USE flags. Adding IUSE defaults is essentially adding defaults to the base profile. Why does dev-java/icedtea try to pull in GTK (and thus X) on a headless server? That stuff belongs in a desktop profile, not in the base one. I don't think minimal should be our default, but it should be *possible*. It practically isn't so long as people mix uses #1, #3, and #4. I guess I would also be happy if we outlawed use #1 so that USE="-*" would be supported. In any case, we should document how to use them. Having them mean four different things causes confusion.
