Gentoo Fun

[Kevin M Stange]

Ethan Blanton wrote:
> Kevin M Stange spake unto us the following wisdom:
>> Ethan Blanton wrote:
>>> I have no idea whether these particular protocols even *have* USE
>>> variables -- we don't get people coming in asking about SILC or
>>> Gadu-Gadu.  What we *do* get is people asking about a common (if
>>> terrible) protocol with no unusual external dependencies, MSN.  The
>>> USE flags currently on the Pidgin package seem to be more or less
>>> completely arbitrary, from upstream's point of view.  (It is perfectly
>>> possible that Bonjour et al. also have USE flags, and we just don't
>>> hear about it.)
>> Actually, MSN depends upon Pidgin's SSL plugin and turning on the MSN
>> USE flag effectively turns on another USE flag (SSL) and pulls in GNUTLS
>> or NSS.
> 
> Yes, I realize that MSN requires SSL, which is why I said "unusual
> external dependencies".
> 
> Is there any mechanism for dependencies which are satisfied by *any*
> package to be automatically taken advantage of?  (For example, if
> Mozilla or Firefox is installed, just say "oh look, I have NSS", and
> assume USE=ssl.)
> 

I vaguely recall that there was some effort in this direction a while
ago, and it was either never completed or backed out because it resulted
in programs being installed inconsistently, which resulted in more
confused users than they preferred.

Kevin

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