I'm not 100% sure but i installed Gentoo X86-64 today

and trying to install Portage frontend Porthole i get

emerge porthole
package masked AMD64


is it safe to force? and how do i

The Gentoo Handbook is a very good resource for all Gentoo users. Take a look here for a possible solution to your problem.

I find the simplest way to force it is to emerge it by path so some thing like:
emerging by path is broken and may not always work it says but it has always worked for me.

Edit: this is not recomended you are suposed to add the packages to /etc/portage/package.unmask but if there are a lot of dependancys this can be a pain in the ass. so I do this it works for me but your results may vary.

bugga sorry

i cant install porthole
the gui front end for portage

I don't even know anyone who uses that; why would you? that is something that might cause you more problems then portage when trying to force it. I would suggest learning portage and how to use it on a command line so that when you come across a problem like this you can figure it out; I mean I can think of at least 4 ways to force an emerge: The correct way (with /etc/portage/package.unmask), the old way (with ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="~x86" this is no longer recommended), my way (by path; not the correct way to do things) and a complete no-no (by messing with /usr/portage/profiles/package.mask; don't ever do this.) I wouldn't know any of this if I had been using a gui front end to avoid learning portage. I think that gui utilities that keep you from understanding what is really going on with your computer are a bad thing; especially in gentoo where you are sort of expected to know your system. but if you insist:

If it's marked ~amd64, you're probably safe to install it. If it's 'missing keyword' or fully masked, then only install it if you like living dangerously.

I prefer /etc/portage/package.keywords for marking ~x86 (or ~amd64) software to be emerged.

I can see that Matir likes to do things properly, and has yet another way (his is a recommended practice) that I forgot about, but may I ask: Matir do you use porthole, emerge in a terminal or something else?

I use emerge in the terminal. But I'm largely a command-line jockey for system administration. When I introduce people to linux (usually ubuntu) synaptic is a first stop for that. I've never used porthole, but I don't think it would be 'bad' to use it.

I didn't mean to say it would be bad. just that if it was masked for his arch that it might give him problems, and that I don't know anyone who uses it.

i'm a command line junk also however emerge on the commandline from personal experiance hasnt been favourable.

EG yesterday i ran

emerge kdebase

today it didnt install konsole

emerge konsole
results in kdebase-konsole conflicts with kdebase


i end up with a dependancy hell for some reason

You need to either install the monolithic kde package, or install the split ebuilds. If you install the monolithic (such as kdebase) then you won't be able to install the seperate programs that you want/need by themselves.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kde-config.xml

That link will explain it all. You can't install monolithic packages with split packages, it will cause blockages everywhere. Essentially, you should have installed kdebase-meta instead of just kdebase.

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handboo...x86.xml?part=2

There is another link that you may like, it will explain portage and teach you how to use it.