[MacPorts] FAQ modified

[MacPorts]

Changed page "FAQ" by jmr at macports.org from 210.215.87.80*
Page URL: <https://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ>
Diff URL: <https://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ?action=diff&version=105>
Revision 105
Comment: update universal section

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Index: FAQ
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--- FAQ (version: 104)
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 === Is MacPorts Universal? === #universal
 
-MacPorts works on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs, but the ports you install will be compiled only for the architecture you're currently running on. This means that if you migrate from, say, a PowerPC Mac to an Intel one and use Migration Assistant to copy your data to the new machine, you should reinstall all your ports on the new machine to rebuild them for Intel. It may be simpler to completely remove all of MacPorts and start fresh. See below for uninstallation instructions, but be sure to keep any configuration files you need.
-
-For many ports, there's now an alternative: select the +universal variant when you build each port, and MacPorts will create universal binaries that work on both Intel and PowerPC. This can be useful if you anticipate migrating to a different Mac soon, or if you want to install MacPorts on an external hard drive that's used by both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. But note that because +universal is new, it may not work correctly for all ports, even if no error message is shown during installation. If you find a port that will not build with +universal, or if it builds but then does not work correctly, please file a bug report. If you can provide a patch to fix the problem, that's even better.
-
-Some ports may only work on PowerPC Macs or only on Intel Macs. In some cases, these are bugs that need to be fixed. If there is a newer version of the software available, you should report this to the port maintainer. Maybe the new version works correctly on both architectures. If the port is already using the latest version, report the problem to the upstream authors of the software; the software may need to be updated. In other cases, the software may be specifically written for one processor architecture such that it will not be possible to make it available to the other.
-
-See also [wiki:Universal] for a list of ports that were tested for +universal support and the results.
+MacPorts works on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs, but the ports you install will be compiled only for the architecture you're currently running on. This means that if you migrate from, say, a PowerPC Mac to an Intel one and use Migration Assistant to copy your data to the new machine, you should reinstall all your ports on the new machine to rebuild them for Intel. See the Migration link in the previous question.
+
+For many ports, there's now an alternative: select the +universal variant when you build each port, and MacPorts will create universal binaries that work on multiple processor architectures. The set of architectures is controlled by the `universal_archs` setting in [http://guide.macports.org/chunked/internals.configuration-files.html#internals.configuration-files.macports-conf macports.conf].
+
+Using +universal can allow you to run ports which do not build for your preferred architecture alongside those that do. For example, the wine port only builds for i386, but shares many dependencies with ports that can build for x86_64. On x86_64 hardware, the dependencies can be built with +universal so they support both i386 and x86_64 dependents.
+
+Historically, +universal could also be useful if you anticipated migrating to a different Mac soon, or if you wanted to install MacPorts on an external hard drive used by both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. But note that because +universal is not necessarily tested by port maintainers, it may not work correctly for all ports, even if no error message is shown during installation. If you find a port that will not build with +universal, or if it builds but then does not work correctly, please file a bug report. If you can provide a patch to fix the problem, that's even better.
+
+Some ports may only work on PowerPC Macs or only on Intel Macs. Others may work on 32-bit archs but not 64-bit. In some cases, these are bugs that need to be fixed. If there is a newer version of the software available, you should report this to the port maintainer. Maybe the new version works correctly on both architectures. If the port is already using the latest version, report the problem to the upstream authors of the software; the software may need to be updated. In other cases, the software may be specifically written for one processor architecture such that it will not be possible to make it available to the other.
+
+See also [wiki:Universal] for a (highly outdated at this point) list of ports that were tested for +universal support and the results.
 
 === Why is /opt/local the default install location for MacPorts? === #defaultprefix
 

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