Funtoo Profiles

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This page covers the Funtoo Linux profile system -- how it works, what profiles are available, and how to use epro to set and change profile settings.

Profile Types

Historically, users have had to add a large number of settings to /etc/make.conf to customize their Gentoo or Funtoo Linux system, which made setup of the operating system more difficult than it should be. In Gentoo Linux, it is possible to only define one system profile. Think of a system profile as the default settings that Portage uses for building everything on your system. Rather than a single profile, Funtoo Linux uses multiple sub-profiles, and moves many types of settings that are normally stored in /etc/make.conf into the profile system. The following profile types are available in Funtoo Linux:

Sub-Profile Type	Description
`arch`	Typically `x86-32bit` or `x86-64bit`, this defines the processor type and support of your system. This is defined when your stage was built and should not be changed.
`build`	Defines whether your system is a `current`, `stable`, `experimental` or `next` build. `current` systems will have newer packages unmasked than `stable` systems. This is defined when your stage is built and is typically not changed.
`subarch`	Defines CPU optimizations for your system. The subarch is set at the time the stage3 is built, but can be changed later to better settings if necessary. Be sure to pick a setting that is compatible with your CPU.
`flavor`	Defines the general type of system, such as `server` or `desktop`, and will set default USE flags appropriate for your needs.
`mix-ins`	Defines various optional settings that you may be interested in enabling.

Note

Flavors can (and often do) inherit settings from other flavors and mix-ins. Mix-ins can also inherit settings from other mix-ins. For example, X is inherited by gnome. The epro tool will show both as being enabled so there are no surprises.

The Purpose

The purpose of this new system is to:

Help developers to organize and curate optimal settings for the community. We use these settings, such as our gnome mix-in, to build official GNOME stages. So we want them to work, and work well.
Allow our users to use the epro tool (also known as its long form: ego profile to manage USE settings in bulk. We want our mix-ins to be useful for enabling a logical set of USE flags by name, such as mediaformat-audio-extra rather than listing a long list of USE flags.

Really, we consider the selection and maintenance of optimal USE settings to be a community task, rather than an individual task. This is a fundamental cultural difference of Funtoo as compared to Gentoo.

See the Wolf Pack Philosophy for more information on these cultural differences which have a practical impact on how we do our work.

Using epro

epro show will display the current profile settings on your system:

root # epro show

=== Enabled Profiles: ===

        arch:  x86-64bit
       build:  current
     subarch:  intel64-haswell
      flavor:  desktop
     mix-ins:  gnome


=== All inherited flavors from desktop flavor: ===

                     workstation (from desktop flavor)
                            core (from workstation flavor)
                         minimal (from core flavor)

=== All inherited mix-ins from desktop flavor: ===

                               X (from workstation flavor)
                           audio (from workstation flavor)
                             dvd (from workstation flavor)
                           media (from workstation flavor)
      mediadevice-audio-consumer (from media mix-in)
                mediadevice-base (from mediadevice-audio-consumer mix-in)
      mediadevice-video-consumer (from media mix-in)
                mediadevice-base (from mediadevice-video-consumer mix-in)
        mediaformat-audio-common (from media mix-in)
          mediaformat-gfx-common (from media mix-in)
        mediaformat-video-common (from media mix-in)
                  console-extras (from workstation flavor)
                           print (from desktop flavor)

To view all available sub-profile settings, use epro list:

root # epro list

Enabled profiles will be highlighted in cyan. Directly enabled profiles will be in bold and have an asterisk * appended. Sub-profiles enabled via inheritance will be highlighted.

Usage Examples

Add the mix-ins `gnome` and `kde`	`epro mix-ins +gnome +kde`
Remove a mix-in, for example `gnome`	`epro mix-ins -gnome`
Change the profile arch to x86-64bit	`epro arch x86-64bit`
Change the subarch to `generic_64`	`epro subarch generic_64`
Change the system flavor	`epro flavor desktop`
Get JSON output of profile settings	`epro show-json`
Get current sub-profile setting in text form	`epro get [profiletype]`

Wrapping Up

After you set your desired profile, sync and update.

root #  ego sync

root #  emerge -auDN @world

Flavors

A system can have only one flavor profile enabled at a time. The following flavors are available:

Flavor	Description
`minimal`	This contains the bare minimum settings for all Funtoo Linux flavors.
`core`	The core flavor includes the minimal flavor, plus reasonable settings, and is used for the official stage3 downloads.
`server`	In the future, the server flavor will include the core flavor, plus specific settings designed for servers. At the moment, it is equivalent to the core flavor.
`workstation`	The workstation flavor is a minimal desktop system. It includes the core flavor, plus these mix-ins: `X`, `audio`, `dvd`, `media` and `console-extras`.
`desktop`	The desktop flavor includes the common settings for any full-featured desktop system. It includes the `workstation` flavor plus `printing` support. The user is expected to further customize their system with a desktop environment of choice, such as KDE, GNOME, or XFCE, possibly by using a mix-in.

Mix-ins

A system can have any number of mix-ins enabled at a time. The following mix-ins are available:

Mix-in	Description
`audio`	Enables core audio-related settings, currently related to ALSA.
`console-extras`	Enables things that are nice to have for console-only systems. Currently enabling gpm in USE.
`dvd`	USE settings related to optical drives -- CDR/DVD-ROM/RW use.
`gnome`	USE and package.use settings required to merge GNOME. Designed to be used with `desktop` or `workstation` flavor.
`hardened`	Enables hardened support.
`kde`	USE and package.use settings required to merge KDE Plasma 4. Designed to be used with `desktop` or `workstation` flavor.
`kde-plasma-5`	USE and package.use settings required to merge KDE Plasma 5. Designed to be used with `desktop` or `workstation` flavor.
`media`	USE settings related to audio/video media encoding. Can be for desktops or servers.
`print`	Enables printing capability.
`vmware-guest`	Settings related to using Funtoo Linux as a VMware virtual machine guest.
`X`	Settings related to the X Window System and hardware support.
`xfce`	USE settings required for merging XFCE.

Important

This section is in need of updates.

Media Device Mix-ins

Media device mix-ins have been created to support media devices, including external and portable devices, and associated low-level hardware support and hardware-focused codecs. Media devices have been categorized into audio and video categories, and consumer and professional categories. "Consumer" devices are those devices that regular desktop users might typically use, while "professional" devices are those that professionals, hobbyists or enthusiasts would typically use. Here are the new mix-ins for media devices:

Media Device Mix-in	Description
`mediadevice-base`	Common, universally-supported media devices, like IEEE-1394 (Firewire), CDDA, CDIO. Other mediadevice mix-ins have this as a parent.
`mediadevice-audio-consumer`	Consumer audio devices, such as personal portable media players (iOS, iPod, etc.)
`mediadevice-audio-pro`	Pro audio support, such as JACK.
`mediadevice-video-consumer`	Consumer video support, such as DVD, Blu Ray, V4L
`mediadevice-video-pro`	Pro video support, such as dv, dc1394.

Media Format Mix-ins

Media format mix-ins have been created to support media formats for reading, writing, encoding and decoding images, audio and video. They have been organized into a "common" collection, for popular formats, and an "extra" collection, which is intended to include "everything else". Let's look at the new mix-ins:

Media Format Mix-in	Description
`mediaformat-video-common`	Common (ie. popular) video formats.
`mediaformat-video-extra`	More esoteric video formats.
`mediaformat-audio-common`	Common (ie. popular) audio formats.
`mediaformat-audio-extra`	More esoteric audio formats.
`mediaformat-gfx-common`	Common (ie. popular) graphics formats.
`mediaformat-gfx-extra`	More esoteric graphics formats.

How to Use Media Mix-Ins

Our existing media mix-in still exists, and is still pulled in by the desktop and workstation flavors automatically. It now includes the following parent mix-ins:

mediadevice-audio-consumer
mediadevice-video-consumer
mediaformat-audio-common
mediaformat-gfx-common
mediaformat-video-common

In addition, there is a new media-pro mix-in which needs to be enabled manually, which pulls in the following mix-ins:

mediadevice-audio-pro
mediadevice-video-pro

So typically, you would enable the desktop or workstation flavor, and if you need professional hardware support, you'd also enable the media-pro mix-in. If you needed any additional media formats support, you could enable one or more of the mediaformat-*-extra mix-ins to add the formats you needed. Of course, it's possible to enable only the specific mix-ins you need, and also complement these mix-ins with specific USE variable settings you might require.

How Profile Settings are Stored

Funtoo Linux stores its profile settings in the /etc/portage/make.profile/parent file. Typically, users don't need to modify this file, instead using ego and epro to make changes, but it can be handy to take a look at what the contents of the file look like. A simple server might have profile settings as follows:

/etc/portage/make.profile/parent

gentoo:funtoo/1.0/linux-gnu/arch/x86-64bit
gentoo:funtoo/1.0/linux-gnu/build/current
gentoo:funtoo/1.0/linux-gnu/flavor/core

Profile settings for a desktop might look like this: