eselect-news
Manage and display Gentoo news items
TLDR
List available news items with their numbers (all by default)
Print the specified news items
Print all unread news items
Mark the specified news items as unread
Delete all read news items
Print the number of available news items (new by default)
SYNOPSIS
eselect news [list|read|update|ignore] [options] [NUMBER]
PARAMETERS
list
Display list of available (unread) news items with IDs and summaries
-a, --all
Show all news items, including previously read ones
read [NUMBER]
Read specific news item by ID or first unread if omitted
update
Fetch and install latest news from repository
ignore [NUMBER]
Mark specific news item as ignored (permanently)
-q, --quiet
Suppress non-essential output
-F, --force
Force action, e.g., re-read or update even if unchanged
-H, --help
Show help and exit
DESCRIPTION
eselect-news is a utility in Gentoo Linux for reading and managing news items produced by Gentoo developers. These items highlight critical updates, deprecated features, bugs, configuration changes, or manual interventions required after package updates via Portage.
News is generated in /usr/share/eselect/news/, categorized by relevance (e.g., for all users or specific profiles). The tool integrates with emerge, displaying unread news post-sync or update. Users can list items, read specifics, mark as read/ignored, or force updates.
It ensures users stay informed on system-impacting events, preventing breakage from unaddressed changes. Run regularly after emerge --sync or major updates.
CAVEATS
Gentoo-only; requires eselect package. News items are profile-specific; some may auto-expire. Does not remove old news automatically.
NEWS STORAGE
Items in /usr/share/eselect/news/; format YYYY-MM-DD-ID.title; read status in ~/.eselect/news_ignore.
AUTOMATION
Invoked by emerge --pretend or hooks; use eselect news update after emerge --sync.
HISTORY
Introduced in eselect ~2005 as part of Gentoo's configuration framework. Evolved to handle growing news volume; integrated with Portage news system in app-portage/gentoo-news-tool around 2012.
