On 6/11/2010, at 3:56pm, Andrew Lowe wrote: > ... > Portage 2.1.9.24 (default/linux/amd64/10.0/desktop/kde, gcc-4.4.5, > glibc-2.12.1-r1, 2.6.35-gentoo-r9 x86_64)
Considering that, you should be perfectly safe to update to the current profile (as explained by Mick in his message of 40 minutes ago) and `emerge --update -p world`. If your system hasn't been updated in 6 months then look out for the libpng update: http://blog.flameeyes.eu/2010/06/29/stable-users-libpng-update > the line that will tell me which profile I'm running? As I said, I've, not > knowingly, done anything to make this profile appear, it's just appeared. This is somewhat inexplicable. > In the dir /usr/portage/profiles/updates, there are a whole series of profile > file. Do all of these need to exist? Should I get rid of all of them, except > for the current? Nope, these are generated by `emerge sync` - old ones will be deleted automagically when you update (which is why it's so confusing you have a 2005 profile configured). You just need to change to the current one and update world. BTW: I assume you're new to Gentoo, because most everything in /usr/portage/ is managed by Portage, and this directory tree needs little maintenance or intervention. The only exceptions are /usr/portage/packages and /usr/portage/distfiles - `emerge gentoolkit` and run `eclean` a couple of times a year. Generally speaking you should be running `emerge --update world` about every week or every month - after 2 months or more the update becomes a bit more of a chore, and if you leave it as long as 6 months you're pretty much sure to encounter problems like this one with the libpng update, but not always be so well documented. Stroller.
