Well, they're a mystery to me.

Here's the list:

/var/cache/edb/dep/*

"dep" suggests dependencies.

Now, a pair of 35Mb files:

/var/cache/edb/metadata.idx.most_recent
/var/cache/edb/remote_metadata.pickle

Also:

/var/cache/edb/config
/var/cache/edb/mtimedb
/var/cache/edb/counter

Finally:

/var/db/pkg/*

Another 23Mb of files. That may be the record
of packages that have been installed.

Regarding the size of my portage tree: using
a loopback device with a block size of 1024
reduces the size of my portage tree by 265Mb.
There must be a more elegant solution.

<begin rant>

Please convince me that the portage system
is not a sprawling suboptimal mess! A more
thorough knowledge of it may dispel that
impression, but I'm beginning to doubt it.

Surely there is no need for a portage tree
containing more than one hundred thousand
files, most of which contain details of
packages I will never even think about
installing. And then there's the scattering
of other portage files all over the place.

I'm trying very hard to like portage, but
it reeks of ad hoc incrementalism. I can't
help but think that a plane designed by
Gentoo would have several dozen wings,
and enough electronic equipment to fill
half the passenger cabin.

<end rant>

I feel much better now, thanks

R.