emerge

Emerge is a command line tool used in Gentoo Linux, a popular source-based distribution. It is the main package manager in Gentoo, responsible for installing, updating, and removing software packages. Emerge uses Portage, Gentoo's package management system, to manage dependencies and build software from source code. With emerge, users can search for available packages using keywords or specific criteria, and then install them with a simple command. Emerge handles software installations by merging source code into a local copy of the package's source tree. It automatically downloads the source code of the desired software and its dependencies, and then compiles and installs them on the system. Emerge also provides various options to control the installation process, such as specifying installation paths, selecting specific versions of packages, and setting compile flags. Users can also utilize emerge to upgrade their entire system by upgrading all installed packages to their latest available versions. Emerge supports package masking, allowing users to disable or prevent specific packages or package versions from being installed or upgraded. Furthermore, emerge provides advanced features like use flags, which allow users to customize the software they install by enabling or disabling specific features or dependencies.