Version specifier

This is a reference for specifying versions of packages as used when interacting with Portage via emerge or /etc/portage. These are also known as "DEPEND atoms" in Portage documentation.

For the ebuild development perspective, see the devmanual.

Basic
category/package

Matches any version of a package.

By Version
~category/package-1.23

Matches version and any revision.

=category/package-1.23*

Matches a version by the version range. Note that there's no "." before the "*".

=category/package-1.23

Matches a version exactly.

>=category/package-1.23

Matches the specified version or any higher version.

>category/package-1.23

Matches a version strictly later than specified.

::gentoo.