[28325] trunk/dports/graphics/wxWidgets-devel/Portfile

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Aug 31, 2007, at 09:21, N_Ox wrote:

> Le 30 août 07 à 19:40, Anders F Björklund a écrit :
>
>> Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>>
>>> Why do we keep repeating these lines in so many portfiles? Why  
>>> isn't "configure.compiler gcc-4.0" the default on darwin 8, and  
>>> similarly, "configure.compiler gcc-3.3" the default on darwin 7?
>>
>> +1
>>
>> If nothing else, it keeps those pesky "+darwin_8" variants alive. :-(
>
> I don't even understand why there is a default compiler hard  
> written in ports.
> gcc-4 is the default on Tiger, users who change this behaviour  
> surely know some things may break.

Don't be so sure. The user population of Mac OS X is not like those  
of other UNIX-like operating systems. Users who use Linux and *BSD  
and similar operating systems have, I presume, chosen to do so  
because they are programmers or system administrators or similar who  
do not mind that the OS is a bit difficult to use, or don't even  
think it is difficult to use. They understand the system, understand  
the implications of what they do, understand how to write scripts,  
and have a basic understanding of what a compiler is and does. With  
Mac users, you should not assume these things.

I don't mean to suggest that Mac users aren't smart; what I mean is  
that the Mac was introduced as being "the computer for the rest of  
us" [1] -- the computer for those who don't want or need to know how  
the computer works, but who just want to get their work done. And if  
that work involves installing some tool, then such users will look  
for a tutorial that explains how to do it. And if that tutorial tells  
them to "gcc_select 3.3" before compiling the software, the user will  
happily do just that, without knowing what implications it will have.  
The implications are apparently that on Tiger, many ports fail to  
build, leading the authors of hundreds of ports to include directives  
in their portfiles explicitly specifying gcc-4.0 on Tiger. (At least,  
that is the only reason I can think of for all these "platform darwin  
8" sections appearing.) I'm arguing that we should remove these  
directives from the hundreds of ports where they currently appear,  
and instead put it in MacPorts base so that all 4200+ ports can benefit.


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 
List_of_Apple_Inc._slogans#Company_advertising_campaigns