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Date:      Fri, 23 Apr 1999 00:55:46 -0500 (CDT)
From:      Jonathan Fosburgh <wotan@fosburgh.dyndns.org>
To:        Steve Kargl <sgk@troutmask.apl.washington.edu>
Cc:        Chuck Robey <chuckr@picnic.mat.net>, W Gerald Hicks <wghicks@bellsouth.net>, freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG, wghicks@wghicks.bellsouth.net
Subject:   Re: revisiting Motif policy in ports
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.05.9904230050040.37581-100000@fosburgh.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <199904230532.WAA64192@troutmask.apl.washington.edu>

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On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Steve Kargl wrote:

> Chuck Robey wrote:
> > On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, W Gerald Hicks wrote:
> > > How about a new DEPENDS_MOTIF (supplied by a port) which might
> > > build lesstif if HAVE_MOTIF is not set?
> > > 
> > > I agree that lesstif has become useful.  (former skeptic)
> > 
> > I would suggest that, if HAVE_MOTIF is not set, you want to prompt the
> > user that Motif was not detected, and then go ahead and build lesstif
> > automatically.  You don't want to look down your noses at Motif (it's
> > not free, but that doesn't mean it has cooties).  The prompt ought to
> > say something like:
> > 
> > Motif libraries not detected (HAVE_MOTIF not defined).
> > Building lesstif as non-commercial substitute.
> > 
> > I think that's pretty even handed.  The idea is NOT to discourage Motif
> > sales, while offering an acceptable workaround for those who won't buy
> > Motif.  We WANT commercial vendors, so we don't want to go around
> > insulting them.
> > 
> 
> Yes, exactly my thoughts.  Nedit, ddd, and few other ports are very
> useful, and LessTif makes them functional.  I brought this up
> for discussion because one needs to be careful to not blow away
> a valid Motif installation where a sys admin may have forgotten to
> set HAVE_MOTIF.
> 
> I think we need (in some pseudo-make syntax),
> 
> .if !defined(HAVE_MOTIF)
>    .if !exists(${PREFIX}/lib/libXm.a)
>       build LessTif
>       echo 'LessTif is known to contain some difference from Motif'
>       echo 'See http://www.lesstif.org'
>    .endif
> .endif
> 
> -- 
> Steve
> 
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-ports" in the body of the message
> 
> 
Rather than automatically build lesstif I would have the echo be along the
lines of:
Could not detect Motif (HAVE_MOTIF not defined).
Set the environment variable USE_LESSTIF to build lesstif.

Hence:
make USE_LESSTIF=yes 
will force the makefile to look for a dependency like the above.  This way
if whoever is installing the port turns away for awhile before this
message comes up (which may take a few seconds depending on load, etc)
won't come back to a Motif installation that has been clobbered.  I
imagine more people would rather have to retype the make command than have
to reinstall Motif.


 --
Jonathan Fosburgh
Geotechnician
Snyder Oil Corporation
Houston, TX

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