On a more serious note, how does updating apps on gentoo work? I understand that everything is built on your system, but then if the app is updated, do you need to re-compile every time?
On a more serious note, how does updating apps on gentoo work? I understand that everything is built on your system, but then if the app is updated, do you need to re-compile every time?
AFAIK: Gentoo used to be just source repos, but times have changed. Gentoo repos now have binaries. You can opt out of them, so it’s up to you.
With binaries, it works like any other distro. Download the updated binaries, install, done.
If you go from source, then it will download all the source code, and do the whole makefile thing, and install the new binaries when the compile is done, every time you do an update.
So the direct answer to your question is: it depends. If you’re compiling everything then yes, you need to recompile everything that is updated. If you’re going to opt for binaries in the package manager, then no.
The binaries are not opt out, but opt in.
A small but important distinction.
Thank you for the information. Have a good day.