What if software download URL doesn't include version?

[Ryan Schmidt]

I have run into the situation a couple times now that the software  
developer provides a download URL that does not contain the version  
number. For example, gtkwave:

http://trac.macports.org/projects/macports/ticket/11238

And sitescooper:

http://trac.macports.org/projects/macports/ticket/11050

The portfile gets written to download the archive, including its  
checksums, and then when the author goes and updates the software, it  
breaks the port because the checksum has changed but the download  
filename is the same.

I don't know about sitescooper, but I've checked with the author of  
gtkwave, and he cannot provide versioned downloads because he does  
not have enough webspace to store the prior versions. (The current  
version is about 2.5 MB.)

What should we do in cases like these? Do we go and grab the archives  
and put them on a MacPorts web server with a versioned URL, or do we  
use the original download URL and just accept that the port will  
break when the developer updates the software?


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Anthony J Bybell
> Date: January 24, 2007 00:56:07 CST
> To: Ryan Schmidt
> Subject: Re: Download specific version of gtkwave?
>
> Ryan,
>
> There's no way to download a specific version given that I don't  
> have the
> webspace on my ISP to support all the versions.  I will forward out a
> tarball of 3.0.14 in my next note.
>
> -Tony
>
>
> On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>
>> Hi. Is there a way to download version 3.0.14 -- or any specific
>> version -- of gtkwave? All I see on your web page is a way to
>> download the "current" version of gtkwave, but for the MacPorts
>> project we need a reliable way to download a specific version, even
>> after you have released a new version. Thanks.