Using github and layman for my own gentoo overlay

Since I almost always have a local portage overlay in any gentoo machine I create, I've started to maintain in github.

Now, originally I just pulled the repository to /usr/local/portage.git on each machine and added the dir to PORTDIR_OVERLAY in make.conf.

But since I already have other third party overlays and maintain them using layman, I though why not use that for my own overlay as well?

So all is required is to create a custom repositories xml file and point to it from the layman config.

The repostiories xml (this one is using https since I can't access git from work - the down side is that it ask for password on every layman sync, but git://github.com/asssaf/portage.git or git@github.com:asssaf/portage.git can be used where this is not a problem):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE repositories SYSTEM "/dtd/repositories.dtd">
<repositories xmlns="" version="1.0">
  <repo quality="experimental" status="unofficial">
    <name><![CDATA[mygithub]]></name>
    <description><![CDATA[mygithub]]></description>
    <homepage>https://github.com/asssaf/portage</homepage>
    <owner>
      <email></email>
      <name><![CDATA[Assaf]]></name>
    </owner>
    <source type="git">https://asssaf@github.com/asssaf/portage.git</source>
    <feed></feed>
  </repo>
</repositories>

And in /etc/layman/layman.cfg, add the line in bold:

overlays  : http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/overlays/repositories.xml
            file:///etc/layman/localrepositories.xml

The overlay will be available for addition using 'layman -a mygithub' and pulled into (by default) /var/lib/layman/mygithub.

Bluetooth network connection to the Palm Pre from a linux machine

The Palm Pre in its current version has a very limited bluetooth stack. It only allows outgoing connections to audio devices. No serial port, PAN or even sending contacts to another phone.

It does however support incoming PAN connections.
This is how I do it.

1. First, pair the phone with your machine using your favorite gui (bluedevil, blueman) or command line utility.

2. Set up IP configuration for the bnep0 interface
In gentoo this is done in the /etc/conf.d/net file. I just needed to add the following line:

config_bnep0="10.1.1.61 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.1.1.255"

3. Firewall - set it up to allow traffic. Also need to set up masquerading/proxyarp for returning traffic.

4. Start a connection:

pand --connect AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF --role PANU --nodetach --master

Where AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF is the mac of the palm pre bluetooth interface

This will bring up the bnep0 interface and allow connecting to the pre via ssh, etc.

Known issues:
1. Most WebOS programs will not be aware of this connection (you won't be able to use the browser). But most terminal operations will be.
1. DHCP, DNS: The DHCP configuration is geared towards a mobile wifi hotspot and is kind of screwed up (or at least I don't understand it) for this purpose.
2. Proxy ARP / IP bridging mode instead of NAT (TODO)