port "cask" -- installing prebuilt binaries

[Ken Cunningham]

On 2020-08-14 11:48 p.m., Lothar Haeger wrote:
>
>> Am 15.08.2020 um 01:11 schrieb Ken Cunningham <ken.cunningham.webuse at gmail.com>:
>>
>> so -- what would a user typing
> Obviously that variant would conflict with all other variants, much like +ruby21 conflicts with +ruby22. So the user would type
>
> sudo port -v install macvim +prebuild_binary

Well, I guess we've all made our points, as much as they are going to be 
made.

For me, it is a needless layer of extra confusion to attempt to list a 
preinstalled binary as a build variant for a port for something that is 
in no way a build variant and doesn't involve building the port. But 
apparently to some, that seems quite logical.

"Cask" ports, if allowed, would have almost nothing to do with the usual 
ports, have different downloads, different installation procedures, 
different deactivate procedures, different updating schedules, different 
os version support, and basically -- are totally different ports.

Having them as variants of other ports is just trouble and makes for 
extremely messy portfiles. Nothing mentioned here would be leading me to 
be changing that opinion, but then I won't be calling this either. If 
such ports are ever accepted into MacPorts, which is also not up to me.

At least if they do start to come in, it will have been with a modicum 
of forethought.

Ken