What if software download URL doesn't include version?

[James Berry]

On Jan 23, 2007, at 11:44 PM, Ryan Schmidt wrote:

> 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?

I think we should grab and host the distfiles in cases like this. I  
created space for such in our subversion tree at /distfiles (at root  
of our tree, at the same level as trunk). This is available through  
http at http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/distfiles.

James


>
>
> 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.
>
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