euse

Gentoo USE flag management utility

TLDR

List active global USE flags

$ euse -a -g

List active local USE flags

$ euse -a -l

Enable a global USE flag

$ sudo euse -E useflag

Disable a global USE flag

$ sudo euse -D useflag

Remove a global USE flag

$ sudo euse -P useflag

Show info about a USE flag

$ euse -i useflag

euse is a Gentoo utility to enable, disable, and obtain information about USE flags. USE flags control which optional features are compiled into packages during installation, allowing fine-grained control over software capabilities, dependencies, and binary size.The tool simplifies USE flag management by providing a command-line interface to modify system and package-specific flags without manually editing configuration files. This is central to Gentoo's philosophy of compile-time customization.

PARAMETERS

-a, --active

Show active USE flags

-g, --global

Operate on global USE flags (make.conf)

-l, --local

Operate on local USE flags (package.use)

-E, --enable

Enable the specified USE flag

-D, --disable

Disable the specified USE flag (adds '-' prefix)

-P, --prune

Remove the specified USE flag from configuration

-i, --info

Show information about a USE flag (description, status, type).

-I, --info-installed

Like --info, but also list currently installed packages that use the flag.

-h, --help

Display help information.

-v, --version

Display version information.

CONFIGURATION

/etc/portage/make.conf

Global USE flags for the entire system set via the USE variable.

/etc/portage/package.use/

Per-package USE flag settings organized in files within this directory.

CAVEATS

Global USE flags are set in /etc/portage/make.conf. Local USE flags are set in /etc/portage/package.use/. After changing USE flags, affected packages should be rebuilt with emerge --changed-use.

HISTORY

euse is part of gentoolkit, a collection of administration scripts for Gentoo Linux.