Variables, options, and keys -- oh my!

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jun 19, 2008, at 9:41 PM, Boyd Waters wrote:

> So here's a fundamental question: why can't we set port parameters in
> the macports.conf?
>
> Then if the option is set in the Portfile, it overrides what is in the
> macports.conf. And if the user specifies it on the command line, that
> overrides anything in either of them. If the option isn't set
> anywhere, use a reasonable default value.
>
>
> Most of my users never look inside that macports.conf file, they are
> not aware it exists. They would be "safe".
>
> But I manage a build system that uses 30-40 ports, and I've had to
> tweak individual portfiles rather than modify a global parameter.

Why do you need to tweak the portfiles? What's the matter with them  
the way they're written? If they're not working, please report bugs  
so we can fix the portfiles so everyone can benefit from the fixes.