From owner-freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Nov 25 22:11:30 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 88EC1A70 for ; Mon, 25 Nov 2013 22:11:30 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 281392D96 for ; Mon, 25 Nov 2013 22:11:29 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id rAPMBMgg048456; Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:11:22 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) with ESMTP id rAPMBMcV048453; Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:11:22 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:11:22 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Matthias Andree Subject: Re: Upgrading Perl... Somebody just shoot me and put me out of my misery! In-Reply-To: <5292F0F5.6090203@gmx.de> Message-ID: References: <25503.1385152807@server1.tristatelogic.com> <201311231220.36687.Mark.Martinec+freebsd@ijs.si> <5292F0F5.6090203@gmx.de> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.4.3 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:11:22 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.16 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 22:11:30 -0000 On Mon, 25 Nov 2013, Matthias Andree wrote: > Am 23.11.2013 12:20, schrieb Mark Martinec: >> On Friday 22 November 2013 21:40:07 Ronald F. Guilmette wrote: >>> Now, one last little thing... >>> >>> The note in the UPDATING file dated 20131120 gives essentially the same >>> instructions as the one dated 20131023, *however* it also contains this: >>> >>> 1) Change the option in lang/perl5.16: >>> make -C /usr/ports/lang/perl5.16 config >>> >>> HUH?? I don't understand this at all. What exactly is "the option" that >>> we are changing here? And what does it matter to anything? >>> >>> It would be Nice if this were entierly less opaque. >> >> $ man ports >> [...] >> config Configure OPTIONS for this port using dialog4ports(1). >> >>> And what does it matter to anything? >> >> Gives you a choice to re-think your existing/chosen port options. >> For example, a new default is now THREADS, but you may not like >> it, as it somewhat increases the memory usage and requires >> to rebuild all perl modules. > > Which shows an interesting facet of this whole tedious process: > > We're doing a lousy job of explaining the options to unsavvy users, and > we're also doing a lousy job of tracking options. I don't know if I'd say it that way, but many users really have a hard time interpreting UPDATING. > Perhaps we should just slash down the options and go more for "build > the default" - it also reduces testing complexity and would give for a > more uniform ports experience for everyone (packages use default > options anyways). That's supposed to be changing. > I would even go that far to propose killing some common options such as > NLS DOCS EXAMPLES and replace them by a "make globcalconfig" that sets > them system-wide through make.conf, so that we don't need to set/reset > them each and every time a port changes options, nor even offer them. That is an excellent idea! This would also act as documentation of what global options are available.