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Editing USE flags with ufed and euse

This tip introduces two USE flag editors; ufed (an ncurses based utility) and euse (a command line utility). Between these two programs the days of opening /etc/make.conf and editing USE manually can be over.

While euse is available in Portage, ufed is a separate package and will need to be emerged.

Code Listing 1: Getting ufed

# emerge app-portage/ufed

Using ufed is very simple. Make sure you're root and simply type ufed. An ncurses based interface to all USE flags should start and you can select them as you like. After you're done, just select Save and you're done.

While ufed provides a full menu for editing USE flags, euse is handy when you need to quickly add or remove a USE flag. To add a USE flag, use euse -E flag. To remove a flag, use euse -D flag. To list your USE flags, use euse -i.

Code Listing 2: Using euse

// Example: Adding mozilla as a USE flag  
# euse -E mozilla  
  
// Example: Removing mozilla as a USE flag  
# euse -D mozilla

For more information on using these two programs, see man 1 euse and man 8 ufed.

From http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20030901-newsletter.xml