Suddenly 4000 ports more available

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Aug 20, 2011, at 03:50, Mark Bestley wrote:

> However I have just had a case of py26-tkinter needing python2.7 to be
> installed - this is because one of the C libraries it needs needs python
> - the library has variants for pythons 2.4-7 but 2.7 is the default - In
> this case perhaps macports should automatically choose a variant for
> which python is installed.

That's not necessarily easy to do. What if the user has multiple MacPorts pythons installed - which do we pick? Perhaps you say pick the one the user has chosen with "port select python". What if the user hasn't chosen one? Perhaps you say pick the latest one the user has installed. In any case, this is additional logic that would have to be programmed into each portfile that has python variants, or a portgroup could perhaps be created (and then used from each such portfile). In other words, it would require significant effort to fix this. Which is not to say it shouldn't be done, just that nobody has done it.


> In otherwords I don't mind the py2x- variants when I am using python
> libraries but if I am not installing one of these then the python used
> could be Apple's

I think consistency is best. Either a port should always use a MacPorts python, or always the Mac OS X python, that way there are fewer possible user configurations and fewer possibilities for errors.