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Date:      Mon, 30 Oct 2000 01:44:42 -0800
From:      jay.krell@cornell.edu
To:        <ports@freebsd.org>
Subject:   whine..
Message-ID:  <00c301c04256$08894b50$8001a8c0@jayk3.jaykhome>

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Maybe I should create whine@freebsd.org, or at least stick to the noisy
questions@
Anyway, I like the idea of the FreeBSD port system, as a compromise between
putting /everything/ "in the system" vs. integrating it all in a common
build and package system. I also find the current implementation very
flawed.

Ports do not mesh with development and debugging.
I need to be able to build with symbols / unstripped. I need to be able to
incrementally install. There are bugs in ported packages. Installing the
port does not leave something easily moved through the edit/compile/debug
cycle. For example XFree86 4 -configure with Intel 810 video crashing, or
the quick to crash kde2. (not bugs in FreeBSD, I understand, and I submitted
a fix for the first).

In my brief experience with XFree86 here, the answer was to partly skip the
port, and edit the configuration manually and run make and make install from
the work directory, depending on the fact that XFree86 adheres to the fairly
build/install process that the port system is all about further
streamlining.

Ports with uninstalled dependents require being root to build (instead of
only requiring root to install).
When shared libraries are not found installed, depending ports should be
able to pick them up from an uninstalled built port (after recursing into
them as is automatically done and building them). I shouldn't have to be
root to do the build.

"Conflicting" ports should be installable with "longer names".
I should be able to install /usr/ports/lang/modula-3 and
/usr/ports/lang/pm3, just give different/longer names to the binaries,
and/or put them in subdirectories. Maybe this really is not possible?

different/longer names should get symbolic links from the usual places
I shouldn't have to type /usr/local/bin/jdk1.1.8/bin/javac or whatever, I
should be able to
javac118 path search -> /usr/local/bin/javac118 symbolic link ->
/usr/local/bin/jdk1.1.8/javac
and also /usr/local/bin/javac would be a symbolic link, depending on if I
have a "conflicting" port previously installed

Basically, I don't like there to be a profusion of directories to know
about. I want anything I might run to be in one of a few directories,
/usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, with dependents I don't care where.

make BATCH=1 fetch should skip interactive steps but still perform the
fetch.

Multiprocess make install should work. I already mentioned this in
questions@.

The whole ports system should be (re)written in a real language like C, C++,
or Python. Then maybe I could help fix it.. While stilling being as
declarative as possible, of course... yeah, I'm too lazy to actually do the
rewrite..

 ..Jay



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