<div dir="auto">That's what I said, no coherence or coordination.<div dir="auto">So what are your reasons to not use HomeBrew?</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 22:40 Jim DeLaHunt <<a href="mailto:list%2Bmacports-dev@jdlh.com">list+macports-dev@jdlh.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hello, Jordan:<br>
<br>
Welcome (back to) MacPorts!<br>
<br>
I am nobody official with the project. I just try to make contributions <br>
to a few ports and documentation pages where I can. But in this project, <br>
lots of people contribute, each in their own way.<br>
<br>
On 2022-06-11 07:07, Jordan via macports-dev wrote:<br>
> Hi friends,<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> First of all thank you for your work! I use MacPorts exclusively for a <br>
> few different reasons and am looking to contribute to the project....<br>
<br>
I for one would be glad to have your contributions.<br>
<br>
> There is one aspect of MacPorts that has me a little down in the dumps <br>
> and that's is its _apparent_ (but likely not true) neglected state. I <br>
> think it's perhaps under maintained currently due to a lack of <br>
> people-power? I say so because I'd love to see more people using <br>
> MacPorts so I wonder if there's any "modernisation" (for lack of a <br>
> better word) to be had here? ... so perhaps some usage compared to <br>
> things like Homebrew can be gained back since I'd love to see this <br>
> project used more.<br>
<br>
I think it is not fair to say MacPorts overall is in a neglected state. <br>
Its core purpose is to help people compile a wide range of freely <br>
available software on the macOS platform. As part of that it helps <br>
gather the related software needed to make the requested software work. <br>
I think that this aspect of MacPorts works very well. It gets a lot of <br>
care and attention. There is a lot of activity. For instance, I just <br>
moved onto an M1 Mac, and I see a lot of support for compiling software <br>
with the M1 CPU's architecture. That is the opposite of neglect.<br>
<br>
Now, certain aspects of the project are neglected. You mention the <br>
timeline on Trac. That's a page of documentation.<br>
<br>
When you say "modernisation", I think you mean, changes to how MacPorts <br>
work to make it easier or better for some audience. I think that is best <br>
approached as a collection of small projects, each with a specific <br>
understanding of a problem, and its own goal for an improvement. One way <br>
to proceed is to start a macPorts-dev thread for each of these ideas <br>
(and each with a different Subject: line, please).<br>
<br>
You mention believing that `sudo` probably scares new users. Maybe so, <br>
maybe not. A first step is to gather some evidence whether this is true. <br>
A next step is to figure out why the port tool requires use of `sudo`. A <br>
third step is to figure out what alternative way the port tool could <br>
work which does not require `sudo`. For my part, use of `sudo` is no <br>
problem at all. MacPorts is a command-line tool for system maintenance. <br>
I am used to system maintenance tools requiring administrator passwords. <br>
`sudo` is a command-line way of requiring a password.<br>
<br>
I will also say that competing with Homebrew about which project has <br>
more users is not very interesting to me. Homebrew works well for some <br>
people. MacPorts works well for some people. I'm interested in helping <br>
MacPorts be the best MacPorts it can be. If Homebrew ends up with more <br>
users, that is no big deal to me.<br>
<br>
> Also, as a tacked-on issue I am working on...<br>
<br>
I suggest you start a separate email thread for each issue. If you try <br>
to discuss deleting files on uninstall as part of a thread with the <br>
Subject: of "MacPorts status", which was originally about your offer to <br>
help, I suspect you will lose a lot of readers.<br>
<br>
Anyhow, I look forward to seeing you in the email list, and in the trac <br>
tickets, and in the Pull Requests! Glad to have your help.<br>
<br>
Best regards,<br>
—-Jim "just another MacPorts user/contributor" DeLaHunt<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div>