from small one page howto to huge articles all in one place

search text in:




Other .linuxhowtos.org sites: www.linuxhowtos.org
toolsntoys.linuxhowtos.org



Last additions:
How to make X listen on port 6000

How to make X listen on port 6000

words:

34

views:

84136

userrating:

average rating: 1.2 (52 votes) (1=very good 6=terrible)


May, 25th 2007:
April, 26th 2007:
Apr, 10th. 2007:
Druckversion . pdf icon
You are here: Tips&Tricks

Querying Portage with etcat

This tip shows you how to use the etcat command to retrieve information on Portage, USE flags, package versions, and much more.

While there are other package query utilities such as qpkg or epm, etcat has some unique features. Some of these features include the ability to display the amount of disk space a particular package is using, the USE flags the package was compiled with, and the versions available for a package.

The first step is installing the app-admin/gentoolkit package from Portage. This installs etcat (among other utilities) to /usr/bin/.

Code Listing 1: Getting etcat>

# emerge app-admin/gentoolkit

To view the size of the package, use etcat size [package].

Code Listing 2: Displaying the size of a package

# etcat size mozilla
[ Results for search key : mozilla ]
[ Applications found : 4 ]  
  
 Only printing found installed programs.  
  
* mozilla-firebird-bin-0.5  
           Total Files : 338  
            Total Size : 20925.18 KB  
* mozilla-1.3-r1  
           Total Files : 3155  
            Total Size : 52073.05 KB  
  
# etcat size evolution  
[ Results for search key : evolution ]  
[ Applications found : 1 ]  
  
 Only printing found installed programs.  
  
* evolution-1.2.4  
           Total Files : 1421  
            Total Size : 33456.65 KB  
  
# etcat size fluxbox  
[ Results for search key : fluxbox ]  
[ Applications found : 1 ]  
  
 Only printing found installed programs.  
  
* fluxbox-0.1.14-r1  
           Total Files : 26  
            Total Size : 806.92 KB

To look at the USE flags a package was compiled with, use etcat uses [package]. For example, the following command shows which USE flags Postfix was compiled with.

Code Listing 3: Displaying USE flags

# etcat uses net-mail/postfix  
[ Colour Code : set unset ]  
[ Legend      : (U) Col 1 - Current USE flags        ]  
[             : (I) Col 2 - Installed With USE flags ]  
  
 U I [ Found these USE variables in : net-mail/postfix-2.0.9 ]  
 + + ssl     : Adds support for Secure Socket Layer connections  
 + + mysql   : Adds mySQL support  
 + + sasl    : Adds support for the Simple Authentication and Security Layer  
 + + ldap    : Adds LDAP support (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)  
 - - ipv6    : Adds support for IP version 6  
 - - maildir : Adds support for maildir (~/.maildir) style mail spools  
 - - mbox    : Adds support for mbox (/var/spool/mail) style mail spools  
  
# etcat uses fluxbox  
[ Colour Code : set unset ]  
[ Legend      : (U) Col 1 - Current USE flags        ]  
[             : (I) Col 2 - Installed With USE flags ]  
  
 U I [ Found these USE variables in : x11-wm/fluxbox-0.1.14-r1 ]  
 - - kde      : Adds support for kde-base/kde (K Desktop Enviroment)  
 + + gnome    : Adds GNOME support  
 + + nls      : unknown  
 + - xinerama : Add support for XFree86's xinerama extension,
                which allows you to stretch  your display across
                multiple monitors  
 + + truetype : Adds support for FreeType and/or FreeType2 fonts

To see which versions of a specific package are available, use etcat versions [package]

Code Listing 4: Displaying available package versions

# etcat versions kde-base/kde  
[ Results for search key : kde-base/kde ]  
[ Applications found : 1 ]  
  
*  kde-base/kde :  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-2.2.2-r1 (2)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.0.4 (3.0)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.0.5a (3.0)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.0.5b (3.0)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.1.1a (3.1)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.1.1 (3.1)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.1.2 (3.1)  
        [   ] kde-base/kde-3.1 (3.1)  
  
# etcat versions net-mail/evolution  
[ Results for search key : net-mail/evolution ]  
[ Applications found : 1 ]  
  
*  net-mail/evolution :  
        [   ] net-mail/evolution-1.2.3 (0)  
        [  I] net-mail/evolution-1.2.4 (0)  
        [M~ ] net-mail/evolution-1.3.92 (2)  
        [M~ ] net-mail/evolution-1.4.0 (0)  
  
# etcat versions net-www/apache  
[ Results for search key : net-www/apache ]  
[ Applications found : 1 ]  
  
*  net-www/apache :  
        [   ] net-www/apache-1.3.27 (1)  
        [   ] net-www/apache-1.3.27-r1 (1)  
        [M~ ] net-www/apache-1.3.27-r2 (1)  
        [   ] net-www/apache-1.3.27-r3 (1)  
        [M~ ] net-www/apache-1.3.27-r4 (1)  
        [M~ ] net-www/apache-2.0.43-r1 (2)  
        [M~ ] net-www/apache-2.0.44 (2)  
        [M~ ] net-www/apache-2.0.45 (2)  
        [M~I] net-www/apache-2.0.46 (2)

Note: If you don't specify the category, etcat will try to find all possible matches in Portage. If the package name is common or occurs in many other package names, you may get a lot more output that you wanted.

For more detailed information, type man etcat. For a quick overview of available options, just type etcat.

From http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20030623-newsletter.xml

back



Support us on Content Nation

New Packages

- as rdf newsfeed
- as rss newsfeed
- as Atom newsfeed
2026-04-02
accelerate - 1.7.0-r2
Ebuild name:

sci-ml/accelerate-1.7.0-r2

Description

Run your *raw* PyTorch training script on any kind of device

Added to portage

2026-04-02

bicho - 0.0.18
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/bicho-0.0.18

Description

ruby Bugzilla access library

Added to portage

2026-04-02

dropbox - 246.4.3513
Ebuild name:

net-misc/dropbox-246.4.3513

Description

Dropbox daemon (pretends to be GUI-less)

Added to portage

2026-04-02

inifile - 3.0.0
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/inifile-3.0.0

Description

Native Ruby package for reading and writing INI files

Added to portage

2026-04-02

kmscon - 9.3.3
Ebuild name:

sys-apps/kmscon-9.3.3

Description

KMS/DRM based virtual Console Emulator

Added to portage

2026-04-02

mediawiki - 1.43.8
Ebuild name:

www-apps/mediawiki-1.43.8

Description

The MediaWiki wiki web application (as used on wikipedia.org)

Added to portage

2026-04-02

mediawiki - 1.44.5
Ebuild name:

www-apps/mediawiki-1.44.5

Description

The MediaWiki wiki web application (as used on wikipedia.org)

Added to portage

2026-04-02

mediawiki - 1.45.3
Ebuild name:

www-apps/mediawiki-1.45.3

Description

The MediaWiki wiki web application (as used on wikipedia.org)

Added to portage

2026-04-02

mercurial - 7.2.1
Ebuild name:

dev-vcs/mercurial-7.2.1

Description

Scalable distributed SCM

Added to portage

2026-04-02

phlex - 1.11.0
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/phlex-1.11.0

Description

A framework for building object-oriented views in Ruby

Added to portage

2026-04-02

phlex - 2.2.1
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/phlex-2.2.1

Description

A framework for building object-oriented views in Ruby

Added to portage

2026-04-02

phlex - 2.3.0
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/phlex-2.3.0

Description

A framework for building object-oriented views in Ruby

Added to portage

2026-04-02

phlex - 2.3.1
Ebuild name:

dev-ruby/phlex-2.3.1

Description

A framework for building object-oriented views in Ruby

Added to portage

2026-04-02

pikopixel - 1.0_beta10-r3
Ebuild name:

gnustep-apps/pikopixel-1.0_beta10-r3

Description

a free application for drawing & editing pixel-art images

Added to portage

2026-04-02

qemu - 10.2.2
Ebuild name:

app-emulation/qemu-10.2.2

Description

QEMU + Kernel-based Virtual Machine userland tools

Added to portage

2026-04-02

quiche - 0.28.0
Ebuild name:

net-libs/quiche-0.28.0

Description

Implementation of the QUIC transport protocol and HTTP/3

Added to portage

2026-04-02

safeeyes - 3.3.2
Ebuild name:

x11-misc/safeeyes-3.3.2

Description

Linux alternative to EyeLeo

Added to portage

2026-04-02

2026-04-01
aiohttp - 3.13.5
Ebuild name:

dev-python/aiohttp-3.13.5

Description

HTTP client/server for asyncio

Added to portage

2026-04-01

ansible-compat - 26.3.0
Ebuild name:

dev-python/ansible-compat-26.3.0

Description

Contains functions that facilitate working with various versions o

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 20.0.3.1.10-r2
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-20.0.3.1.10-r2

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 20.0.3.1.11-r1
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-20.0.3.1.11-r1

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 21.0.3.1.10-r2
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-21.0.3.1.10-r2

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 21.0.3.1.11-r1
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-21.0.3.1.11-r1

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 22.0.3.1.10-r2
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-22.0.3.1.10-r2

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

asterisk-g729 - 22.0.3.1.11-r1
Ebuild name:

net-misc/asterisk-g729-22.0.3.1.11-r1

Description

G.729 codec and supporting files for asterisk

Added to portage

2026-04-01

awscli - 1.44.70
Ebuild name:

app-admin/awscli-1.44.70

Description

Universal Command Line Environment for AWS

Added to portage

2026-04-01

blueprint-compiler - 0.20.4
Ebuild name:

dev-util/blueprint-compiler-0.20.4

Description

Compiler for Blueprint, a markup language for GTK user interface

Added to portage

2026-04-01

boto3 - 1.42.80
Ebuild name:

dev-python/boto3-1.42.80

Description

The AWS SDK for Python

Added to portage

2026-04-01

botocore - 1.42.80
Ebuild name:

dev-python/botocore-1.42.80

Description

Low-level, data-driven core of boto 3

Added to portage

2026-04-01

cfn-lint - 1.48.0
Ebuild name:

dev-python/cfn-lint-1.48.0

Description

CloudFormation Linter

Added to portage

2026-04-01

clang - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

dev-python/clang-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Python bindings for llvm-core/clang

Added to portage

2026-04-01

clang - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/clang-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

C language family frontend for LLVM

Added to portage

2026-04-01

clang-common - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/clang-common-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Common files shared between multiple slots of clang

Added to portage

2026-04-01

compiler-rt - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/compiler-rt-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Compiler runtime library for clang (built-in part)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

compiler-rt-sanitizers - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/compiler-rt-sanitizers-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Compiler runtime libraries for clang (sanit

Added to portage

2026-04-01

coq - 9.2.0
Ebuild name:

sci-mathematics/coq-9.2.0

Description

Coq/Rocq is a proof assistant written in O'Caml

Added to portage

2026-04-01

devcontainer - 0.85.0
Ebuild name:

app-containers/devcontainer-0.85.0

Description

Reference implementation of the Development Containers specifica

Added to portage

2026-04-01

flang - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/flang-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

LLVM's Fortran frontend

Added to portage

2026-04-01

flang-rt - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/flang-rt-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

LLVM's Fortran runtime

Added to portage

2026-04-01

flask-compress - 1.24
Ebuild name:

dev-python/flask-compress-1.24

Description

Compress responses in your Flask app with gzip

Added to portage

2026-04-01

gnumach - 1.8_p20260330
Ebuild name:

sys-kernel/gnumach-1.8_p20260330

Description

GNU Mach microkernel, for the Hurd

Added to portage

2026-04-01

guile-git - 0.11.0
Ebuild name:

dev-scheme/guile-git-0.11.0

Description

Guile bindings of git

Added to portage

2026-04-01

hurd - 0.9_p20260331
Ebuild name:

sys-kernel/hurd-0.9_p20260331

Description

GNU Hurd is the GNU project's replacement for UNIX

Added to portage

2026-04-01

incus - 6.23
Ebuild name:

app-containers/incus-6.23

Description

Modern, secure and powerful system container and virtual machine manager

Added to portage

2026-04-01

jellyfin-bin - 10.11.7
Ebuild name:

www-apps/jellyfin-bin-10.11.7

Description

Jellyfin puts you in control of managing and streaming your media

Added to portage

2026-04-01

ksmbd-tools - 3.5.6
Ebuild name:

net-fs/ksmbd-tools-3.5.6

Description

cifsd/ksmbd kernel server userspace utilities

Added to portage

2026-04-01

kup - 0.3.6-r8
Ebuild name:

dev-util/kup-0.3.6-r8

Description

kernel.org uploader tool

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libclc - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/libclc-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OpenCL C library

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libcxx - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/libcxx-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

New implementation of the C++ standard library, targeting C

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libcxxabi - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/libcxxabi-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Low level support for a standard C++ library

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libgcc - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/libgcc-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Compiler runtime library for clang, compatible with libgcc_

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libopenmpt - 0.8.6
Ebuild name:

media-libs/libopenmpt-0.8.6

Description

Library to decode tracked music files (modules)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

libunwind - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/libunwind-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

C++ runtime stack unwinder from LLVM

Added to portage

2026-04-01

lit - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

dev-python/lit-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

A stand-alone install of the LLVM suite testing tool

Added to portage

2026-04-01

lld - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/lld-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

The LLVM linker (link editor)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

lldb - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/lldb-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

The LLVM debugger

Added to portage

2026-04-01

llvm - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

dev-ml/llvm-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OCaml bindings for LLVM

Added to portage

2026-04-01

llvm - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/llvm-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Low Level Virtual Machine

Added to portage

2026-04-01

llvm-common - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/llvm-common-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Common files shared between multiple slots of LLVM

Added to portage

2026-04-01

mediawiki - 2.3.1
Ebuild name:

app-emacs/mediawiki-2.3.1

Description

MediaWiki client for Emacs

Added to portage

2026-04-01

meson-mode - 0.4
Ebuild name:

app-emacs/meson-mode-0.4

Description

A GNU Emacs major mode for Meson build-system files

Added to portage

2026-04-01

meson-mode - 9999
Ebuild name:

app-emacs/meson-mode-9999

Description

A GNU Emacs major mode for Meson build-system files

Added to portage

2026-04-01

metamath-mode - 0_p20221005
Ebuild name:

app-emacs/metamath-mode-0_p20221005

Description

Major GNU Emacs mode for metamath files

Added to portage

2026-04-01

mig - 1.8_p20260123
Ebuild name:

dev-util/mig-1.8_p20260123

Description

GNU Mach 3.0 interface generator (IDL compiler)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

mlir - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/mlir-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (library only)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

motif - 2.5.1-r1
Ebuild name:

x11-libs/motif-2.5.1-r1

Description

The Motif user interface component toolkit

Added to portage

2026-04-01

mypy - 1.20.0
Ebuild name:

dev-python/mypy-1.20.0

Description

Optional static typing for Python

Added to portage

2026-04-01

nprolog - 4.90
Ebuild name:

dev-lang/nprolog-4.90

Description

Interpreter and compiler to be compatible with Arity/Prolog32

Added to portage

2026-04-01

openmp - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/openmp-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OpenMP runtime libraries for LLVM/clang compiler

Added to portage

2026-04-01

openmp-amdgcn-amd-amdhsa - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/openmp-amdgcn-amd-amdhsa-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OpenMP target library for amdgcn devices

Added to portage

2026-04-01

openmp-nvptx64-nvidia-cuda - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/openmp-nvptx64-nvidia-cuda-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OpenMP target library for nvptx64 devic

Added to portage

2026-04-01

openmp-spirv64-intel - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-runtimes/openmp-spirv64-intel-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

OpenMP target library for spirv64 Intel devic

Added to portage

2026-04-01

openmpt123 - 0.8.6
Ebuild name:

media-sound/openmpt123-0.8.6

Description

libopenmpt-based command line player for tracked music files (modules)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

opentimelineio - 0.18.1
Ebuild name:

media-libs/opentimelineio-0.18.1

Description

Open Source API and interchange format for editorial timeline info

Added to portage

2026-04-01

orjson - 3.11.8
Ebuild name:

dev-python/orjson-3.11.8

Description

Fast, correct Python JSON library supporting dataclasses, datetimes, and n

Added to portage

2026-04-01

pandas - 3.0.2
Ebuild name:

dev-python/pandas-3.0.2

Description

Powerful data structures for data analysis and statistics

Added to portage

2026-04-01

picom - 13
Ebuild name:

x11-misc/picom-13

Description

A lightweight compositor for X11 (previously a compton fork)

Added to portage

2026-04-01

polly - 23.0.0_pre20260331
Ebuild name:

llvm-core/polly-23.0.0_pre20260331

Description

Polyhedral optimizations for LLVM

Added to portage

2026-04-01

protontricks - 1.14.1
Ebuild name:

app-emulation/protontricks-1.14.1

Description

app-emulation/winetricks wrapper for Proton (Steam Play) games

Added to portage

2026-04-01

pybind11 - 3.0.3
Ebuild name:

dev-python/pybind11-3.0.3

Description

AST-based Python refactoring library

Added to portage

2026-04-01

pydantic - 2.13.0_beta3
Ebuild name:

dev-python/pydantic-2.13.0_beta3

Description

Data parsing and validation using Python type hints

Added to portage

2026-04-01

sbcl - 2.6.3
Ebuild name:

dev-lisp/sbcl-2.6.3

Description

Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) is an implementation of ANSI Common Lisp

Added to portage

2026-04-01

simdjson - 4.6.0
Ebuild name:

dev-libs/simdjson-4.6.0

Description

SIMD accelerated C++ JSON library

Added to portage

2026-04-01

typescript - 6.0.2
Ebuild name:

dev-lang/typescript-6.0.2

Description

Superset of JavaScript with optional static typing, classes and interface

Added to portage

2026-04-01

vivaldi-snapshot - 7.10.3995.3
Ebuild name:

www-client/vivaldi-snapshot-7.10.3995.3

Description

A browser for our friends

Added to portage

2026-04-01

xpra-html5 - 20
Ebuild name:

www-apps/xpra-html5-20

Description

HTML5 client to connect to any xpra server

Added to portage

2026-04-01

xz-utils - 5.8.3
Ebuild name:

app-arch/xz-utils-5.8.3

Description

Utils for managing LZMA compressed files

Added to portage

2026-04-01

zenburn-theme - 2.9.0
Ebuild name:

app-emacs/zenburn-theme-2.9.0

Description

Zenburn color theme for Emacs

Added to portage

2026-04-01

rdf newsfeed | rss newsfeed | Atom newsfeed
Copyright 2004-2025 Sascha Nitsch Unternehmensberatung GmbH
- Copyright and legal notices -
Time to create this page: 136.9 ms