Here is a list of all packages (with version numbers) that are included in Linode's current default Gentoo image:

localhost root # qpkg -I -v
--
sys-kernel/linux-headers-2.4.19-r1 *
app-arch/ncompress-4.2.4 *
sys-devel/make-3.80 *
sys-devel/bin86-0.16.0 *
sys-devel/bison-1.35 *
sys-devel/gcc-config-1.3.3-r1 *
sys-devel/autoconf-2.57-r1 *
sys-devel/gcc-3.2.3-r2 *
sys-devel/gnuconfig-20030708 *
sys-devel/flex-2.5.4a-r5 *
sys-devel/m4-1.4 *
sys-devel/bc-1.06-r5 *
sys-devel/libtool-1.4.3-r1 *
sys-devel/gettext-0.11.5-r1 *
sys-devel/libperl-5.8.0 *
sys-devel/patch-2.5.9 *
sys-devel/automake-1.7.5-r2 *
sys-devel/binutils-2.14.90.0.6-r6 *
sys-apps/pam-login-3.11 *
sys-apps/man-1.5l-r6 *
sys-apps/sed-4.0.7 *
sys-apps/tcp-wrappers-7.6-r6 *
sys-apps/textutils-2.1 *
sys-apps/kbd-1.06-r1 *
sys-apps/setserial-2.17-r2 *
sys-apps/man-pages-1.60 *
sys-apps/fileutils-4.1.11-r1 *
sys-apps/shadow-4.0.3-r7 *
sys-apps/less-381 *
sys-apps/modutils-2.4.25 *
sys-apps/miscfiles-1.3-r1 *
sys-apps/grep-2.5.1-r1 *
sys-apps/ed-0.2-r3 *
sys-apps/tar-1.13.25-r3 *
sys-apps/diffutils-2.8.4-r3 *
sys-apps/cpio-2.5 *
sys-apps/coreutils-5.0-r3 *
sys-apps/help2man-1.29 *
sys-apps/cronbase-0.2.1-r2 *
sys-apps/bzip2-1.0.2-r2 *
sys-apps/sh-utils-2.0.15 *
sys-apps/gzip-1.3.3-r2 *
sys-apps/net-tools-1.60-r7 *
sys-apps/gawk-3.1.3 *
sys-apps/portage-2.0.49-r15 *
sys-apps/findutils-4.1.7-r5 *
sys-apps/texinfo-4.5 *
sys-apps/procps-3.1.9 *
sys-apps/sharutils-4.2.1-r6 *
sys-apps/hdparm-5.4 *
sys-apps/fbset-2.1 *
sys-apps/file-4.02 *
sys-apps/slocate-2.7-r2 *
sys-apps/psmisc-21.2-r3 *
sys-apps/which-2.14 *
sys-apps/groff-1.18.1-r3 *
sys-apps/util-linux-2.11z-r6 *
sys-apps/debianutils-1.16.7-r3 *
sys-apps/baselayout-1.8.6.10-r1 *
sys-libs/pam-0.75-r11 *
sys-libs/readline-4.3-r4 *
sys-libs/db-1.85-r1 *
sys-libs/db-4.0.14-r2 *
sys-libs/ncurses-5.3-r2 *
sys-libs/gdbm-1.8.0-r5 *
sys-libs/glibc-2.3.2-r1 *
sys-libs/cracklib-2.7-r7 *
sys-libs/pwdb-0.61-r4 *
sys-libs/db-3.2.9-r7 *
sys-libs/zlib-1.1.4-r2 *
sys-libs/slang-1.4.9 *
net-misc/wget-1.8.2-r2 *
net-misc/iputils-020927 *
net-misc/openssh-3.7.1_p2 *
net-misc/dhcpcd-1.3.22_p4-r1 *
net-misc/rsync-2.5.6-r3 *
dev-lang/perl-5.8.0-r12 *
dev-lang/python-2.2.3-r1 *
dev-libs/popt-1.7-r1 *
dev-libs/glib-1.2.10-r5 *
dev-libs/expat-1.95.6-r1 *
dev-libs/openssl-0.9.6k *
dev-python/python-fchksum-1.6.1-r1 *
app-editors/nano-1.2.2 *
app-shells/sash-3.4-r5 *
app-shells/bash-2.05b-r7 *
app-admin/sysklogd-1.4.1-r7 *
sys-fs/devfsd-1.3.25-r3 *
sys-fs/e2fsprogs-1.33 *
app-portage/epm-0.8.4 *

Thought this info may be helpful! (FYI, to get this info, you must emerge gentoolkit and run qpkg -I -v .)

- j

_________________
Programs that crash have been proven to be less useful than those that don't.
• Apple TechNote 117 •

Okay, and here is what gets updated with emerge sync then emerge -u system.

localhost root # emerge -u -p system

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating system dependencies ...done!
[ebuild     U ] sys-devel/gcc-config-1.3.4 [1.3.3-r1] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-devel/gettext-0.12.1 [0.11.5-r1] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-devel/gcc-3.2.3-r3 [3.2.3-r2] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-libs/glibc-2.3.2-r3 [2.3.2-r1] 
[ebuild     U ] app-arch/bzip2-1.0.2-r3 [1.0.2-r2] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/coreutils-5.0-r5 [5.0-r3] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/debianutils-1.16.7-r4 [1.16.7-r3] 
[ebuild     U ] dev-lang/python-2.2.3-r5 [2.2.3-r1] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/portage-2.0.49-r21 [2.0.49-r15] 
*** Portage will stop merging at this point and reload itself,
    recalculate dependencies, and complete the merge.

[ebuild     U ] net-misc/dhcpcd-1.3.22_p4-r2 [1.3.22_p4-r1] 
[ebuild     U ] net-misc/rsync-2.6.0 [2.5.6-r3] 
[ebuild     U ] net-misc/wget-1.9-r2 [1.8.2-r2] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/diffutils-2.8.4-r4 [2.8.4-r3] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-fs/e2fsprogs-1.34 [1.33] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/gawk-3.1.3-r1 [3.1.3] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/groff-1.18.1-r4 [1.18.1-r3] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/man-pages-1.64 [1.60] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/procps-3.1.12-r1 [3.1.9] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/shadow-4.0.3-r9 [4.0.3-r7] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/util-linux-2.11z-r8 [2.11z-r6] 
[ebuild     U ] sys-apps/which-2.16 [2.14] 
[ebuild     U ] net-misc/openssh-3.7.1_p2-r1 [3.7.1_p2] 

Of these 22 packages, the big daddies were gcc and glibc, each took quite a while to build.

And this is what next gets updated by emerge -u world.

localhost root # emerge -u -p world

These are the packages that I would merge, in order:

Calculating system dependencies ...done!
[ebuild     U ] app-admin/sysklogd-1.4.1-r10 [1.4.1-r7] 

-j

p.s. I heart Gentoo. I've been playing with it for a few days now, and except for the build times, it's perfect...

_________________
Programs that crash have been proven to be less useful than those that don't.

• Apple TechNote 117 •

The next time caker updates the gentoo image, all those big updates will be done gcc and glibc which will be good at they take around 18 hours to do.

Adam

Yeah, that's the problem with Gentoo, as I said. Unfortunately, there aren't binary packages (and isn't a real easy way to have them with the proliferation of USE flags et al.)

I had thought about asking caker to update the Gentoo image more often (maybe monthly), but then quickly realized that this would only really benefit people who were newly installing the image (as their initial update would be shorter or non-existent). But then the next time one of these programs is updated, back to square one.

The only other option I could see the avoid this is to come up with a common set of USE flags, and then share compiled binaries. In a setup like Linode, this wouldn't actually be too difficult to implement, as we all use the same hardware, and most of us use it for the same basic uses (general internet-enabled servers). Therefore coming up with USE flags that are useful for everyone would be easier than what it may be elsewhere.

One thing I had planned on giving as feedback to caker though, it that maybe the default USE flags should be changed for the Linode image. This would both shorten compile time and make the image smaller. As it is right now, I'm not sure if he had altered the default Gentoo USE flags, but they could definitely be changed to what Linode users are generally going to need. The first thing I did when setting up my Linode was switch most of the default USE flags.

All the desktop-related stuff could be initially disabled in favor of server stuff. Right now, it's actually the other way around for the most part. I was going to try to come up with suggestions before mentioning this, but maybe this is a good place to do so? Anyone think this is a good idea?

-j

_________________
Programs that crash have been proven to be less useful than those that don't.

• Apple TechNote 117 •

This is an excellent idea and here is as good a place as any to do it. I'm busy with my second Gentoo on Linode install - putting into practice all the stuff I learned first time around. I'll add my suggestions as soon as I'm done testing.