rev-upgrade and checking for +universal dependencies (and build dependencies)

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jun 4, 2015, at 07:20, René J.V. Bertin wrote:
> 
> I remember asking why depends_build passes on the +universal variant setting, and from what I remember I was told that that was intentional.

It is intentional. The build dependency might contain a static library you're linking with. MacPorts doesn't know. 

> Could one work around this "feature" via a special "interface" port, say, python-interpreterX.Y, which sets installs_libs to no and otherwise simply depends on pythonX.Y?

Yes, one could modify the python ports to have the interpreter in a separate subport from the libraries. 

> If the installs_libs setting is a sufficient barrier to "stop" the +universal variant from propagating, no changes to base would be required...

Yes, a port that indicates "installs_libs no" will not have its architectures verified.