Discouraging variants [was: Re: port install efficiency issue]

[Rainer Müller]

C. Florian Ebeling wrote:
> Wouldn't it make sense to provide a separate and conflicting whole
> port maybe for this hten? I now that seems a bit farfetched, but
> I'm trying to understand the implications of an hypothentical
> removal of the variant concept altogether, which I would find
> quite a clean scenario. I don't see a real blocker for such a move
> yet.

Variants would be a really useful feature in MacPorts if only we could
use them as intended. Which means, using default_variants and storing
negative variant selections. So I could enable and disable variants as I
like in my variants.conf to avoid certain dependencies or get additional
features.

I don't like rigid packagement systems which provide one package only
without any chance to influence dependencies or features. If the
provided features do not match what I need I have to make my own package
or compile on my own. Variants perfectly fit here.

Rainer