Why USE=binary is required if USE=zfs is set?

[lefsha]

Hi all,

With a recent sys-kernel/debian-sources-lts-4.19.67_p2-r1 kernel update suddenly binary and therefore genkernel is required if USE=zfs is set.

How to disable that dependency?

"The following REQUIRED_USE flag constraints are unsatisfied:
    custom-cflags? ( binary ) zfs? ( binary )"

That requirement doesn't make any sense to me. Please keep some freedom at least in Funtoo/Gentoo. Thx.

[bcowan]

The zfs flag is only useful if you're building the binary debian-sources{lts} ebuild as it enables support in the initramfs of genkernel nothing more.

[lefsha]

Well, it was not the case just for the previous kernel version. sys-kernel/debian-sources-lts-4.19.67_p2 was just fine without genkernel.

"The zfs flag is only useful if you're building the binary debian-sources" - IS wrong. Try to prove the opposite.

 

Pushing zfs-kmod with zfs USE flags is exactly what IS expected and desired. There is NO relation between zfs-kmod

and genkernel. Genkernel is an utility which is fully optional to build kernel. I have never used it and have no plans to start.

It's OK to offer it as consequence of USE=binary, but pushing it with zfs USE flags is an overkill and NOT expected.

Because, of that I have to remove USE=zfs and still keeping zfs-kmod installed...

 

Now the question - what the purpose of all these USE flags, if one has to control dependencies manually?

[lefsha]

In general my suggestion, please, try to keep the dependencies at bare minimum. If I wish to have a bloatware

I could easily install Ubuntu or any kind of similar distro. Please, think of your users. Those with 99% probability know

what they are looking here for. If the whole concept of Gentoo/Funtoo based on source code and USE flags for optional

components including, then please offer exactly that. If the end result will be similar to Arch - honestly I will be using Arch.

Do not decide for the user what he "might" need. You simply can't. Any direct dependency or the one coming from USE flag has to

be unavoidable. If that is optionally and like in that case useless - it is NOT a dependency and has to be removed.

There is a simple way to prove it. If the software (program or component) works despite the dependency is violated by manual intermixing,

then it was not a real dependency. Sounds quite trivial to me, but is broken permanently in any distro. Thank you for understanding.