[MacPorts] #28640: port lint should warn when *-append should be used

[MacPorts]

#28640: port lint should warn when *-append should be used
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 Reporter:  l2g@…             |       Owner:  macports-tickets@…                   
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new                                  
 Priority:  Normal            |   Milestone:                                       
Component:  base              |     Version:  1.9.2                                
 Keywords:                    |        Port:                                       
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Changes (by ryandesign@…):

 * cc: ryandesign@… (added)


Comment:

 One solution would be to suggest that users always use depends_*-append to
 add to dependencies, and never set depends_* -- for all ports. In the
 majority of ports, which don't use portgroups, this wouldn't make a
 difference, and would result in lots of lint warnings that people would
 get annoyed by.

 This could be refined to only print this warning if the port uses a
 portgroup. This would cut down on the unnecessary warnings, but not
 eliminate them; many portgroups don't add dependencies (xcode,
 xcodeversion, archcheck), or at least, don't add to all of the dependency
 types.

 To "do it right", lint would have to notice the use of a portgroup,
 evaluate it to see what dependencies it is declaring, and only print its
 warning if the port sets a dependency type the portgroup is already
 setting.

 A further case to consider is "use_autoconf yes" and "use_autoreconf yes".
 These appends to depends_build; if the port sets depends_build on a
 subsequent line, it overwrites the needed autoconf dependencies. Ports
 must therefore either use depends_build-append in these cases, or set
 their depends_build on a line before they request the use of autoconf or
 autoreconf.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/28640#comment:1>
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