Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 11:10:13 -0500 From: Ade Lovett <ade@FreeBSD.org> To: David O'Brien <obrien@FreeBSD.org> Cc: asmai@FreeBSD.org, ports@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Diking out ports a.out support Message-ID: <20000809111013.C71732@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <20000809025143.C97174@dragon.nuxi.com>; from obrien@FreeBSD.org on Wed, Aug 09, 2000 at 02:51:43AM -0700 References: <20000623080800.F77304@argon.gryphonsoft.com> <3953573F.7B95B83E@FreeBSD.org> <20000623094306.I44870@FreeBSD.org> <20000628221306.G31775@dragon.nuxi.com> <20000629103349.D31932@lovett.com> <20000701231144.A68949@mad> <20000701225008.C20888@FreeBSD.org> <20000701235931.C69938@argon.gryphonsoft.com> <20000731081113.I735@FreeBSD.org> <20000809025143.C97174@dragon.nuxi.com>
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On Wed, Aug 09, 2000 at 02:51:43AM -0700, David O'Brien wrote:
> I still don't see why we need to do this. We already have the machanism
> in place, so why not leave it?
I'll repeat my reasons:
1. The handbook quite clearly states that ports only support STABLE
and CURRENT. If it happens to work on anything else, then that's
a fluke.
2. Those people running a.out systems (which basically means 2.x,
3.0-RELEASE with a.out was a mess) are doing so for reasons of
stability, and thus would be unlikely to be installing new ports
3. For a substantial amount of time, new port submissions have been
developed on the basis of ELF support only (eg: in shared library
naming etc.). In addition, such new ports (and port upgrades)
are likely to be depending on other ports for which there is
no a.out support at all.
4. With the advent of 4.1-RELEASE, we have had 7 releases (3.1 and up)
since a purely a.out system existed
5. Neither -STABLE nor -CURRENT have the tools available to build
a.out programs, meaning that they cannot be verified by the
bento ports building cluster -- indeed, I would hope to see
3.x support disappear soon(ish), since at the moment, to do a
"proper" job, ports maintainers already have to verify their
ports on 3 different systems -- in my view, this is unreasonable
to expect
Think of this as taking an axe off the wall that has been sitting around
waiting to be used for some time. That time has now come.
src/ has long since abandoned a.out -- it is only reasonable that
now, especially after an extended period, ports/ follow.
Satoshi seems to be in agreement, along with other "prominent" members
of the ports team. We can't keep legacy support around forever.
The first stage of removing a.out support (in my eyes) will be to
visit each port individually, and remove any hacks revolving around
PORTOBJFORMAT. We can leave your ports alone at this stage if you
so wish. The next step, however, would be to remove the PORTOBJFORMAT
code from bsd.port.mk et al., at which point if you wish to continue
to support a.out in your own ports, you will need to make the
appropriate modifications to your Makefiles.
Regards,
-aDe
--
Ade Lovett, Austin, TX. ade@FreeBSD.org
FreeBSD: The Power to Serve http://www.FreeBSD.org/
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