Dependency on developer tools

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Oct 23, 2009, at 15:17, Lee Azzarello wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 4:11 PM, Ryan Schmidt  
> <ryandesign at macports.org> wrote:
>
>> I don't doubt that there are still Mac users with PowerPC Macs  
>> using MacPorts. But I am contending that the number of software  
>> developers and port maintainers with PowerPC Macs is decreasing,  
>> meaning developers and maintainers are more likely to introduce  
>> PowerPC-only bugs that go undetected.
>
> If this process could be reliably automated, an old G4 in a basement  
> that gets powered on every few months would work as a build box.

That's the somewhat unfinished MacPorts AutoBuild project.

> It would also help to have a packaging policy and a reliable way to  
> report errors.

Yes it would. These are goals we have had for a very long time.


>> I also once suggested that MacPorts should send stats about what  
>> got installed up to our server so we can tell what ports are  
>> popular, and also what kinds of systems people are running them on.  
>> But this was seen as "phoning home" and an invasion of privacy. It  
>> could be an opt-in feature, but I thought this would make it less  
>> useful.
>
> How about a "popularity contest" port that a user can install  
> optionally to gather stats about installed architectures?

That's funny. :) And I like it. It also solves the problem of how to  
ask the user if they want it. I was dreading adding interactivity to  
either the disk image installer or the selfupdate mechanism. Having it  
all encapsulated within a port is a great idea.