What is a way to prevent a package from emerging?

[MikeTbob]

# app-office/openoffice -> app-office/libreoffice

It's just a comment so that you will know openoffice has been or will be replaced by libreoffice.
Anything that starts with a bang (#) is just comments and is ignored by the system......as for the other question...the reason I don't understand why openoffice is being pulled in, is because it's been obsoleted and it should not get pulled in. Why should you need something that is going to be masked in 30 days?

[frank56]

Mike, I finally got python-updater to update python. I was able to emerge avahi and network-manager. I don't think I did the most efficient way, it took about 12 hours to configure 50 packages, the longest being open office. Should I have emerged Libre office? Also what allowed to python update was adding an [>] to the following:

For more information, see the MASKED PACKAGES section in the emerge
man page or refer to the Gentoo Handbook.

# Tomáš Chvátal <scarabeus@gentoo.org> (27 Jul 2011)
# Old replaced packages. Will be removed in 30 days.
# aoffipp-ce/openoffice -> app-office/libreoffice
# app-office/openoffice-bin -> app-office/libreoffice-bin
# app-text/wpd2sxw -> app-text/wpd2odt
app-office/openoffice <-----------to that line I just changed to >app-office/openoffice
app-office/openoffice-bin
app-text/wpd2sxw

That action set an "invalid atom" that remains, but allowed python-updater to run. What would be the correct setting to eliminate invalid atom message? So far I just get a warning, without being kept from running programs? I still have some tweeking to do on Network Manager. Thanks Mike and everyone for the help. Frank

[MikeTbob]

Glad things are getting sorted for you, keep pounding on it and sooner or later it will submit to you.
I think the invalid atom should be changed to >=app-office/openoffice.

[frank56]

Glad things are getting sorted for you, keep pounding on it and sooner or later it will submit to you.
I think the invalid atom should be changed to >=app-office/openoffice.

That did not work either Mike. I wonder If I should just use equal sign, or is the atom consist of the 3 programs as in:

app-office/openoffice <-----------to that line I just changed to >app-office/openoffice
app-office/openoffice-bin
app-text/wpd2sxw

?

[MikeTbob]

I have that >= in my package.mask file and I don't get that invalid atom error....check your package.use and or make.conf files also. Another thing, I am not using /etc/portage/profiles/package.mask I'm just using /etc/portage/package.mask and so on.

[frank56]

I have that >= in my package.mask file and I don't get that invalid atom error....check your package.use and or make.conf files also. Another thing, I am not using /etc/portage/profiles/package.mask I'm just using /etc/portage/package.mask and so on.

Thanks Mike I noted your differences. On my box, I solved it with :
=app-office/openoffice-3.2.1-r