ebuild-writing/functions/src_prepare/autopackage/text.xml


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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<guide self="ebuild-writing/functions/src_prepare/autopackage/">
<chapter>
<title>Autopackage</title>

<body>
<p>
If a package is only supplied in autopackage format, you must not add
it to the tree. If a package is supplied in autopackage format and
some other sane standard format (for example a source tarball), use
the other format only.
</p>

<p>
Autopackage packages are totally unsuitable for Gentoo systems for a
large number of reasons:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
  To even unpack the package, you must run arbitrary code supplied by an untrusted source.
  </li>
  <li>They install directly to the live filesystem.</li>
  <li>Their intrinsic dependency resolver is broken.</li>
  <li>They do not support the filesystem layout used by Gentoo.</li>
  <li>They do not support configuration protection.</li>
  <li>They can clobber arbitrary files on uninstall.</li>
  <li>The linking mechanism used is insufficiently flexible.</li>
  <li>
  The entire format is completely unportable and highly tied to x86
  Linux systems.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
Upstream are aware of these issues and have no desire to fix them <d/>
indeed, they pass off some of their most broken behaviour as
'features'.
</p>
</body>
</chapter>
</guide>