In alt.os.linux.gentoo, Peter uttered the immortal words:

> I have four questions:
> 1) Is it OK to remove the Distfiles?

Yes. See below before doing anything though.

> The only way I would emerge again
> would be to upgrade, and that means I would not need the old bz2 files.

That depends. If it's a new revision then the main source file(s) will still
be needed. Portage may only need to get a new patch file.

> 2) Is it OK to remove the /var/tmp/portage directories after a successful
> emerge?

AFAICT yes.

> 3) What if I decide to archive the Distfiles to another location? Would
> there be any reason I'd bring it back?

Yes. If you need to re-emerge something due to running revdep-rebuild or if
a new revision is released (see above).

> 4) If it IS necessary to keep them, can I symlink to the archive location
> so I don't clutter up my root partition?

I have heard of people doing something similar but haven't tried it. I run 5
Gentoo boxes here and store all the distfiles on my webserver (that also
acts as a local Portage mirror). I use that server as a mirror so emerge
looks there first (for most things at least) and pulls any needed files
across the network. Only files that haven't been downloaded before get
pulled from Gentoo's distfile mirrors. I keep the webserver relatively
clean by running a script to remove old files. I'll give more details if
you (or anyone else) asks for them.

--
Andy.