Funtoo Profiles

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:

1. Help developers to organize and curate optimal settings. We use these settings, such as our gnome mix-in, to build official GNOME stages. So we want them to work, and work well.
2. 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:

   /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/desktop
gentoo:funtoo/1.0/linux-gnu/mix-ins/dvd
gentoo:funtoo/1.0/linux-gnu/mix-ins/media

History and Origins

This new system is really a completion of the original cascading profile design that was co-designed by Daniel Robbins and Seemant Kulleen and implemented by Seemant Kulleen as part of Portage. Funtoo Profiles designed to leverage the existing cascading profile system and provide something much more useable and maintainable for users and developers alike. Here are some of its benefits:

• Fewer settings in /etc/make.conf. CHOST and ARCH no longer set in /etc/make.conf.
• Separation of concerns -- arch, build, and flavor-related settings are organized together.
• User flexibility - any number of mix-ins can be enabled to tweak masks or USE settings as needed.

   Note

See Custom Profiles for information on how to extend the profile system.