Guide should warn about default_variants
Ryan Schmidt
ryandesign at macports.org
Wed Nov 21 17:57:27 PST 2007
The guide says this about default_variants:
> If variants are defined, then the default_variants value lists
> which variants are enabled by default. This allows for Portfile
> modularity and also allows users to suppress default variants if
> they wish.
>
> * Default: none
> * Example: default_variants +ssl +tcpd
>
> Default variants may be suppressed by preceding a variant name
> with a "-" as shown in this example.
>
> %% port install foo -ssl
A MacPorts bug makes default_variants inadvisable to use for variants
that you might conceivably want to disable. (If, as in the example
above, you "port install foo -ssl", foo -ssl is installed. But when
you later need to upgrade foo, default_variants +ssl will take
precedence and you'll be left with just "foo" (no "-ssl") installed.)
Therefore, this section should add a note like this:
"The use of default_variants is discouraged. Instead, it's recommend
that a port be built such that the most commonly requested
functionality is on, and if needed, can be disabled with a
"+no_something" variant. To extend the above example, build the port
so that ssl and tcpd functionality is on, without needing to select
any variant. Provide "no_ssl" and "no_tcpd" variants if there's a
good reason someone might want to disable those features."
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