[MacPorts] #13216: Add python support to playerstage-player

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jul 15, 2008, at 11:13, Regis Vincent wrote:

> I have a question about this behavior
> autoconf detects if python is present and adds the it to the build  
> of player.
>
> If python is present, on the machine, what should be the behavior,  
> build it with python even if the variant is not selected

No.

> OR
> not build the python extension despite the fact that python is  
> present on the machine ?

Yes.

> I don't care one way or the other but both are valid expectations.

In MacPorts the expectation is that two users who request to install  
a port with the same set of variants will get exactly the same  
software [1] regardless of any differences in the list of installed  
ports on their machines. If the port has not declared a dependency on  
python, it must not use python, even if python is installed. Same  
goes for all other undeclared dependencies [2]. Software should come  
with configure switches you can use to disable python support in the  
default situation, which you can include with configure.args, and  
which you can remove in the python variant with configure.args- 
delete. Or you could choose to make python support always-on and  
dispense with the need for configure arguments and variants.

Other than Xcode, ports usually shouldn't make use of software  
provided by Apple with Mac OS X; MacPorts versions of that software  
should be preferred. The FAQ [3] explains why.


[1] With the exception of differences in major Mac OS X versions and  
processor architecture.

[2] With the exception of Xcode, which is a basic necessity for using  
MacPorts and on which ports needn't declare a dependency.

[3] http://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ#WhyisMacPortsusingitsownlibraries