MacPorts 1.5.0 and binary packaging / New improved Guide

[markd at macports.org]

Anders F Björklund <afb at macports.org> on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 2:32 PM
-0800 wrote:
>Don't get me wrong here, I don't think there is anything wrong 
>whatsoever with using Apple and Mac terms to describe how you install 
>MacPorts on Apple Mac OS X. But everywhere? Nah.

>we're talking about something minor like changing 
>"Installing MacPorts" to "Installing MacPorts on Mac OS X" and avoiding 
>limiting the entire system to just the Apple Macs.
>
>Don't see how "Mac OS X and other platforms" or "Apple or other 
>vendors" would hurt anything. Unless the project clearly defines that 
>it will remove all old code for Darwin and for FreeBSD.

I think that writing the guide so it is has enough generality to
accomodate other operating systems is a good idea; it just wasn't one of
the major things in my mind since my main goal to start with was/is
conceptual clarity of the overall system.

For the OS question, I woulld like to use this approach: 

1) Make the guide as platform agnostic as possible without confusing OS X
users.
2) Mention what alternative OSs are likely to work in the introduction.
3) If alternative OS instructions are desired or needed, put them in a doc
"sandbox" (separate guide section, or MP wiki, etc).

If we stick to that philosophy I think it would minimize how much we need
to revisit the "do these guide mods/additions make sense for OS X and BSD"
questions as time goes on.  And leave the question of what alternative OSs
we support to the people writing and contributing to the code over time. 
Thoughts are welcome.

Mark