eselect-profile

List available profile symlink targets with their numbers

$ eselect profile list

$ eselect profile set [name|number]

$ eselect profile show

eselect profile [list | show | set ]

list
    Lists all available profiles on the system.

show
    Displays the currently active profile.

set
    Sets the system profile to the specified .

The eselect-profile command is a crucial tool in Gentoo Linux for managing system profiles.
A profile in Gentoo dictates the default compiler flags, USE flags, and other system-wide settings that influence how packages are built and behave.
eselect-profile allows you to list available profiles, determine the currently active profile, and switch between different profiles.
Switching profiles can significantly alter your system's behavior, for example, enabling or disabling certain features or optimizing for specific hardware.
It's primarily used by administrators to configure the system to match the desired stability level, desktop environment, or hardware characteristics. Profiles affect the dependency resolution, influencing which packages can be installed.
It is essential to understand the implications before switching profiles, as it may require rebuilding your system to ensure compatibility with the new settings. Proper profile selection ensures a cohesive and functional Gentoo environment.

Switching profiles can have significant impacts on your system.
It is often recommended to run emerge --ask --changed-use --deep @world after changing profiles to rebuild affected packages.

Profiles are typically located under /usr/portage/profiles. The exact location may vary based on your Portage configuration.

Switching profiles can enable or disable USE flags. These flags control the features enabled during package compilation. It's important to be aware of how USE flags change with different profiles.

The eselect-profile command is part of the eselect framework, a core component of Gentoo Linux that simplifies managing various system configurations. It was developed to provide a consistent and user-friendly interface for managing profiles, replacing more manual and error-prone methods.

emerge(1), eselect(1), env-update(1)