Ebuild

An file is Article description::a text file, used by Gentoo package managers, which identifies a specific software package and how the Gentoo package manager should handle it. It uses a bash-like syntax style and is standardized through the EAPI version.

Gentoo Linux uses ebuilds as the package management format for individual software titles. These ebuilds contain metadata about the software (the name and version of the software, which license the software uses, and the home page), dependency information (both build-time as well as run-time dependencies), and instructions on how to deal with the software (configure, build, install, test ...).

The default location for ebuilds in Gentoo is.

is also the Portage command for running the various ebuild functions. Information can be found locally by running:

Live ebuilds
An ebuild is a live ebuild if the source is fetched from a revision control system (VCS). They tend to, but not necessarily, have the version number 9999 so that it can be easily distinguished from normal ebuilds based on upstream releases.

Formally an ebuild is live if it has a variable  with a value "live" inside it. If an ebuild inherits a VCS eclass (e.g. git-r3, mercurial, darcs), it will be live, because these eclasses have a line.

In the site packages.gentoo.org, a Live ebuild has the sign L. In the output of eix, it is marked with.

External resources

 * Ebuild eclass reference in the developer manual.
 * ebuild-maintainer-quiz.txt - Gentoo developer ebuild quiz.
 * ebuild - ebuild man page.