Index: pym/portage_util.py
===================================================================
--- pym/portage_util.py	(revision 2485)
+++ pym/portage_util.py	(working copy)
@@ -6,13 +6,20 @@
 import sys,string,shlex,os.path
 
 noiselimit = 0
-def writemsg(mystr,noiselevel=0):
+
+def writemsg(mystr,noiselevel=0,fd=None):
 	"""Prints out warning and debug messages based on the noiselimit setting"""
 	global noiselimit
+	if fd is None:
+		fd = sys.stderr
 	if noiselevel <= noiselimit:
-		sys.stderr.write(mystr)
-		sys.stderr.flush()
+		fd.write(mystr)
+		fd.flush()
 
+def writemsg_stdout(mystr,noiselevel=0):
+	"""Prints messages stdout based on the noiselimit setting"""
+	writemsg(mystr, noiselevel=noiselevel, fd=sys.stdout)
+
 def grabfile(myfilename, compat_level=0, recursive=0):
 	"""This function grabs the lines in a file, normalizes whitespace and returns lines in a list; if a line
 	begins with a #, it is ignored, as are empty lines"""
Index: pym/portage.py
===================================================================
--- pym/portage.py	(revision 2485)
+++ pym/portage.py	(working copy)
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 	import portage_util
 	from portage_util import grab_multiple, grabdict, grabdict_package, grabfile, grabfile_package, \
 		grabints, map_dictlist_vals, pickle_read, pickle_write, stack_dictlist, stack_dicts, stack_lists, \
-		unique_array, varexpand, writedict, writeints, writemsg, getconfig, dump_traceback
+		unique_array, varexpand, writedict, writeints, writemsg, getconfig, dump_traceback, writemsg_stdout
 	import portage_exception
 	import portage_gpg
 	import portage_locks
@@ -2293,7 +2293,7 @@
 			print
 			return 0
 		else:
-			print ">>> checksums "+note+" ;-)",x
+			writemsg_stdout(">>> checksums "+note+" ;-) %s\n" % x)
 	return 1
 
 
@@ -2493,6 +2493,9 @@
 	mysettings["PV"] = mysplit[1]
 	mysettings["PR"] = mysplit[2]
 
+	if portage_util.noiselimit < 0:
+		mysettings["PORTAGE_QUIET"] = "1"
+
 	if mydo != "depend":
 		try:
 			mysettings["INHERITED"], mysettings["RESTRICT"] = db[root][tree].dbapi.aux_get( \
@@ -5704,7 +5707,7 @@
 						#we skip this if we're dealing with a symlink
 						#because os.path.exists() will operate on the
 						#link target rather than the link itself.
-						print "--- !found "+str(pkgfiles[obj][0]), obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !found "+str(pkgfiles[obj][0])+ " %s\n" % obj)
 						continue
 				# next line includes a tweak to protect modules from being unmerged,
 				# but we don't protect modules from being overwritten if they are
@@ -5712,56 +5715,56 @@
 				# functionality for /lib/modules. For portage-ng both capabilities
 				# should be able to be independently specified.
 				if self.isprotected(obj) or ((len(obj) > len(modprotect)) and (obj[0:len(modprotect)]==modprotect)):
-					print "--- cfgpro "+str(pkgfiles[obj][0]), obj
+					writemsg_stdout("--- cfgpro %s %s\n" % (pkgfiles[obj][0], obj))
 					continue
 
 				lstatobj=os.lstat(obj)
 				lmtime=str(lstatobj[stat.ST_MTIME])
 				if (pkgfiles[obj][0] not in ("dir","fif","dev")) and (lmtime != pkgfiles[obj][1]):
-					print "--- !mtime", pkgfiles[obj][0], obj
+					writemsg_stdout("--- !mtime %s %s\n" % (pkgfiles[obj][0], obj))
 					continue
 
 				if pkgfiles[obj][0]=="dir":
 					if not os.path.isdir(obj):
-						print "--- !dir  ","dir", obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !dir  %s %s\n" % ("dir", obj))
 						continue
 					mydirs.append(obj)
 				elif pkgfiles[obj][0]=="sym":
 					if not os.path.islink(obj):
-						print "--- !sym  ","sym", obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !sym  %s %s\n" % ("sym", obj))
 						continue
 					try:
 						os.unlink(obj)
-						print "<<<       ","sym",obj
+						writemsg_stdout("<<<       %s %s\n" % ("sym",obj))
 					except (OSError,IOError),e:
-						print "!!!       ","sym",obj
+						writemsg_stdout("!!!       %s %s\n" % ("sym",obj))
 				elif pkgfiles[obj][0]=="obj":
 					if not os.path.isfile(obj):
-						print "--- !obj  ","obj", obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !obj  %s %s\n" % ("obj", obj))
 						continue
 					mymd5=portage_checksum.perform_md5(obj, calc_prelink=1)
 
 					# string.lower is needed because db entries used to be in upper-case.  The
 					# string.lower allows for backwards compatibility.
 					if mymd5 != string.lower(pkgfiles[obj][2]):
-						print "--- !md5  ","obj", obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !md5  %s %s\n" % ("obj", obj))
 						continue
 					try:
 						os.unlink(obj)
 					except (OSError,IOError),e:
 						pass
-					print "<<<       ","obj",obj
+					writemsg_stdout("<<<       %s %s\n" % ("obj",obj))
 				elif pkgfiles[obj][0]=="fif":
 					if not stat.S_ISFIFO(lstatobj[stat.ST_MODE]):
-						print "--- !fif  ","fif", obj
+						writemsg_stdout("--- !fif  %s %s\n" % ("fif", obj))
 						continue
 					try:
 						os.unlink(obj)
 					except (OSError,IOError),e:
 						pass
-					print "<<<       ","fif",obj
+					writemsg_stdout("<<<       %s %s\n" % ("fif",obj))
 				elif pkgfiles[obj][0]=="dev":
-					print "---       ","dev",obj
+					writemsg_stdout("---       %s %s\n" % ("dev",obj))
 
 			mydirs.sort()
 			mydirs.reverse()
@@ -5771,14 +5774,14 @@
 				if not last_non_empty.startswith(obj) and not listdir(obj):
 					try:
 						os.rmdir(obj)
-						print "<<<       ","dir",obj
+						writemsg_stdout("<<<       %s %s\n" % ("dir",obj))
 						last_non_empty = ""
 						continue
 					except (OSError,IOError),e:
 						#immutable?
 						pass
 
-				print "--- !empty dir", obj
+				writemsg_stdout("--- !empty dir %s\n" % obj)
 				last_non_empty = obj
 				continue
 
@@ -5942,7 +5945,7 @@
 		if not os.path.exists(self.dbtmpdir):
 			os.makedirs(self.dbtmpdir)
 
-		print ">>> Merging",self.mycpv,"to",destroot
+		writemsg_stdout(">>> Merging %s %s %s\n" % (self.mycpv,"to",destroot))
 
 		# run preinst script
 		if myebuild:
@@ -6025,11 +6028,11 @@
 		outfile.close()
 
 		if (oldcontents):
-			print ">>> Safely unmerging already-installed instance..."
+			writemsg_stdout(">>> Safely unmerging already-installed instance...\n")
 			self.dbdir = self.dbpkgdir
 			self.unmerge(oldcontents,trimworld=0)
 			self.dbdir = self.dbtmpdir
-			print ">>> original instance of package unmerged safely."
+			writemsg_stdout(">>> original instance of package unmerged safely.\n")
 
 		# We hold both directory locks.
 		self.dbdir = self.dbpkgdir
@@ -6085,7 +6088,7 @@
 		global dircache
 		if dircache.has_key(self.dbcatdir):
 			del dircache[self.dbcatdir]
-		print ">>>",self.mycpv,"merged."
+		writemsg_stdout(">>> %s %s\n" % (self.mycpv,"merged."))
 
 		# Process ebuild logfiles
 		elog_process(self.mycpv, self.settings)
@@ -6219,7 +6222,7 @@
 
 					if stat.S_ISLNK(mydmode) or stat.S_ISDIR(mydmode):
 						# a symlink to an existing directory will work for us; keep it:
-						print "---",mydest+"/"
+						writemsg_stdout("--- %s\n" % mydest+"/")
 						if bsd_chflags:
 							bsd_chflags.lchflags(mydest, dflags)
 					else:
@@ -6237,7 +6240,7 @@
 							bsd_chflags.lchflags(mydest, dflags)
 						os.chmod(mydest,mystat[0])
 						os.chown(mydest,mystat[4],mystat[5])
-						print ">>>",mydest+"/"
+						writemsg_stdout(">>> %s\n" % mydest+"/")
 				else:
 					#destination doesn't exist
 					if selinux_enabled:
@@ -6249,7 +6252,7 @@
 					if bsd_chflags:
 						bsd_chflags.lchflags(mydest, bsd_chflags.lgetflags(mysrc))
 					os.chown(mydest,mystat[4],mystat[5])
-					print ">>>",mydest+"/"
+					writemsg_stdout(">>> %s\n" % mydest+"/")
 				outfile.write("dir "+myrealdest+"\n")
 				# recurse and merge this directory
 				if self.mergeme(srcroot,destroot,outfile,secondhand,offset+x+"/",cfgfiledict,thismtime):
@@ -6266,7 +6269,7 @@
 					if stat.S_ISDIR(mydmode):
 						# install of destination is blocked by an existing directory with the same name
 						moveme=0
-						print "!!!",mydest
+						writemsg_stdout("!!! %s\n" % mydest)
 					elif stat.S_ISREG(mydmode) or (stat.S_ISLNK(mydmode) and os.path.exists(mydest) and stat.S_ISREG(os.stat(mydest)[stat.ST_MODE])):
 						cfgprot=0
 						# install of destination is blocked by an existing regular file,
@@ -6370,7 +6373,7 @@
 				if mymtime!=None:
 					zing=">>>"
 					outfile.write("obj "+myrealdest+" "+mymd5+" "+str(mymtime)+"\n")
-				print zing,mydest
+				writemsg_stdout("%s %s\n" % (zing,mydest))
 			else:
 				# we are merging a fifo or device node
 				zing="!!!"
@@ -6384,7 +6387,7 @@
 							outfile.write("fif "+myrealdest+"\n")
 					else:
 						sys.exit(1)
-				print zing+" "+mydest
+				writemsg_stdout(zing+" "+mydest+"\n")
 
 	def merge(self,mergeroot,inforoot,myroot,myebuild=None,cleanup=0):
 		return self.treewalk(mergeroot,myroot,inforoot,myebuild,cleanup=cleanup)
@@ -6466,7 +6469,7 @@
 		shutil.rmtree(tmploc+"/"+mypkg,1)
 	os.makedirs(pkgloc)
 	os.makedirs(infloc)
-	print ">>> extracting info"
+	writemsg_stdout(">>> extracting info\n")
 	xptbz2.unpackinfo(infloc)
 	# run pkg_setup early, so we can bail out early
 	# (before extracting binaries) if there's a problem
@@ -6475,7 +6478,7 @@
 
 	mysettings.configdict["pkg"]["CATEGORY"] = mycat;
 	a=doebuild(myebuild,"setup",myroot,mysettings,tree="bintree")
-	print ">>> extracting",mypkg
+	writemsg_stdout(">>> extracting %s\n" % mypkg)
 	notok=spawn("bzip2 -dqc -- '"+mytbz2+"' | tar xpf -",mysettings,free=1)
 	if notok:
 		print "!!! Error extracting",mytbz2
Index: bin/prepstrip
===================================================================
--- bin/prepstrip	(revision 2482)
+++ bin/prepstrip	(working copy)
@@ -13,7 +13,11 @@
 
 PORTAGE_STRIP_FLAGS=${PORTAGE_STRIP_FLAGS:---strip-unneeded}
 
-banner=1
+if [ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ]; then
+	banner=0
+else
+	banner=1
+fi
 
 save_elf_debug() {
 	local x=$1
@@ -36,11 +40,11 @@
 	[ -z "${f}" ] && continue
 
 	if [[ ${f} == *"current ar archive"* ]] ; then
-		echo "   ${x:${#D}:${#x}}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo "   ${x:${#D}:${#x}}"
 		${STRIP} -g "${x}"
 	fi
 	if [[ ${f} == *"SB executable"* || ${f} == *"SB shared object"* ]] ; then
-		echo "   ${x:${#D}:${#x}}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo "   ${x:${#D}:${#x}}"
 		save_elf_debug "${x}"
 		${STRIP} ${PORTAGE_STRIP_FLAGS} "${x}"
 	fi
Index: bin/emerge
===================================================================
--- bin/emerge	(revision 2483)
+++ bin/emerge	(working copy)
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@
 
 if ("--quiet" in myopts):
 	update_spinner = update_quiet_spinner
-	os.environ["PORTAGE_QUIET"] = "1"
+	portage_util.noiselimit = -1
 
 # Always create packages if FEATURES=buildpkg
 # Imply --buildpkg if --buildpkgonly
@@ -2318,11 +2318,11 @@
 					numselected=numselected+1
 				#ok, now the last-merged package is protected, and the rest are selected
 	if global_unmerge and not numselected:
-		print "\n>>> No outdated packages were found on your system.\n"
+		portage_util.writemsg_stdout("\n>>> No outdated packages were found on your system.\n")
 		return 0
 
 	if not numselected:
-		print "\n>>>",unmerge_action+": No packages selected for removal.\n"
+		portage_util.writemsg_stdout("\n>>> %s\n" % unmerge_action+": No packages selected for removal.\n")
 		return 0
 
 	for x in pkgmap.keys():
@@ -3348,6 +3348,6 @@
 		if portage.mtimedb.has_key("resume"):
 			del portage.mtimedb["resume"]
 		if portage.settings["AUTOCLEAN"] and "yes"==portage.settings["AUTOCLEAN"]:
-			print ">>> Auto-cleaning packages ..."
+			portage_util.writemsg_stdout(">>> Auto-cleaning packages ...\n")
 			unmerge("clean", ["world"])
 	post_emerge()
Index: bin/ebuild.sh
===================================================================
--- bin/ebuild.sh	(revision 2482)
+++ bin/ebuild.sh	(working copy)
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@
 	[ -z "$*" ] && die "Nothing passed to the 'unpack' command"
 
 	for x in "$@"; do
-		echo ">>> Unpacking ${x} to ${PWD}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Unpacking ${x} to ${PWD}"
 		y=${x%.*}
 		y=${y##*.}
 
@@ -562,19 +562,19 @@
 src_test() {
 	addpredict /
 	if emake -j1 check -n &> /dev/null; then
-		echo ">>> Test phase [check]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Test phase [check]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
 		if ! emake -j1 check; then
 			hasq test $FEATURES && die "Make check failed. See above for details."
 			hasq test $FEATURES || eerror "Make check failed. See above for details."
 		fi
 	elif emake -j1 test -n &> /dev/null; then
-		echo ">>> Test phase [test]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Test phase [test]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
 		if ! emake -j1 test; then
 			hasq test $FEATURES && die "Make test failed. See above for details."
 			hasq test $FEATURES || eerror "Make test failed. See above for details."
 		fi
 	else
-		echo ">>> Test phase [none]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Test phase [none]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
 	fi
 	SANDBOX_PREDICT="${SANDBOX_PREDICT%:/}"
 }
@@ -656,10 +656,10 @@
 
 	install -m0700 -d "${WORKDIR}" || die "Failed to create dir '${WORKDIR}'"
 	[ -d "$WORKDIR" ] && cd "${WORKDIR}"
-	echo ">>> Unpacking source..."
+	[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Unpacking source..."
 	src_unpack
 	touch "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}/.unpacked" || die "IO Failure -- Failed 'touch .unpacked' in BUILDIR"
-	echo ">>> Source unpacked."
+	[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Source unpacked."
 	cd "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}"
 
 	[ "$(type -t post_src_unpack)" == "function" ] && post_src_unpack
@@ -903,9 +903,9 @@
 	#some packages use an alternative to $S to build in, cause
 	#our libtool to create problematic .la files
 	export PWORKDIR="$WORKDIR"
-	echo ">>> Compiling source in ${srcdir} ..."
+	[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Compiling source in ${srcdir} ..."
 	src_compile
-	echo ">>> Source compiled."
+	[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Source compiled."
 	#|| abort_compile "fail"
 	cd "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}"
 	touch .compiled
@@ -934,9 +934,11 @@
 }
 
 dyn_package() {
+	local tflags=""
 	trap "abort_package" SIGINT SIGQUIT
 	cd "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}/image"
-	tar cpvf - ./ | bzip2 -f > ../bin.tar.bz2 || die "Failed to create tarball"
+	[[ -n "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" ]] || tflags="v"
+	tar cp${tflags}f - ./ | bzip2 -f > ../bin.tar.bz2 || die "Failed to create tarball"
 	cd ..
 	xpak build-info inf.xpak
 	tbz2tool join bin.tar.bz2 inf.xpak "${PF}.tbz2"
@@ -946,7 +948,7 @@
 		install -d "${PKGDIR}/${CATEGORY}"
 	fi
 	ln -sf "../All/${PF}.tbz2" "${PKGDIR}/${CATEGORY}/${PF}.tbz2" || die "Failed to create symlink in ${PKGDIR}/${CATEGORY}"
-	echo ">>> Done."
+	[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Done."
 	cd "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}"
 	touch .packaged || die "Failed to 'touch .packaged' in ${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}"
 	trap SIGINT SIGQUIT
@@ -966,9 +968,9 @@
 	fi
 	if hasq test $RESTRICT; then
 		ewarn "Skipping make test/check due to ebuild restriction."
-		echo ">>> Test phase [explicitly disabled]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Test phase [explicitly disabled]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
 	elif ! hasq test $FEATURES; then
-		echo ">>> Test phase [not enabled]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && echo ">>> Test phase [not enabled]: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}"
 	else
 		src_test
 	fi
@@ -991,8 +993,10 @@
 	if [ -d "${S}" ]; then
 		cd "${S}"
 	fi
-	echo
-	echo ">>> Install ${PF} into ${D} category ${CATEGORY}"
+	if [ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ]; then
+		echo
+		echo ">>> Install ${PF} into ${D} category ${CATEGORY}"
+	fi
 	#our custom version of libtool uses $S and $D to fix
 	#invalid paths in .la files
 	export S D
@@ -1190,8 +1194,10 @@
 	fi
 
 	touch "${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}/.installed"
-	echo ">>> Completed installing ${PF} into ${D}"
-	echo
+	if [ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ]; then
+		echo ">>> Completed installing ${PF} into ${D}"
+		echo
+	fi
 	cd ${PORTAGE_BUILDDIR}
 	[ "$(type -t post_src_install)" == "function" ] && post_src_install
 	trap SIGINT SIGQUIT
@@ -1219,7 +1225,7 @@
 	set -o noglob
 	for no_inst in ${INSTALL_MASK}; do
 		set +o noglob
-		einfo "Removing ${no_inst}"
+		[ "${PORTAGE_QUIET}" == "" ] && einfo "Removing ${no_inst}"
 		# normal stuff
 		rm -Rf ${IMAGE}/${no_inst} >&/dev/null