[MacPorts] #36323: Macports should be multiuser friendly

[MacPorts]

#36323: Macports should be multiuser friendly
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  Reporter:  ralph@…      |      Owner:  macports-tickets@…
      Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
  Priority:  Normal       |  Milestone:
 Component:  base         |    Version:  2.1.2
Resolution:               |   Keywords:
      Port:               |
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Comment (by ryandesign@…):

 Replying to [comment:2 ralph@…]:
 > (1) some good way is needed of doing things transparently for all users
 - perhaps /etc/paths.d is part of the answer...

 We considered and rejected /etc/paths.d years ago. /etc/paths.d appends to
 the PATH; we want to prepend, not append.

 It could possibly be addressed by having the MacPorts installer find all
 users' home directories and modifying all their .profiles; the installer
 does already have root permission to install MacPorts itself. However this
 wouldn't help for users that are created after MacPorts is installed. So
 is this the best solution, or is there another way that it could be
 addressed?

 In any case, this request is already filed as #24930. Other specific
 change requests should be filed as individual tickets too.

 Replying to [comment:4 ralph@…]:
 > At the very least, there ought to be a how-to "How to setup up macports
 for multiuser scenarios".

 Our wiki is editable by anybody and has a [wiki:howto howto section]; feel
 free to write such a how-to guide. Most of us don't use MacPorts in
 multiuser scenarios and so we probably aren't aware of the issues that
 you're encountering. If you're encountering an issue but aren't sure how
 to resolve it, you could leave part of the how-to unfinished and let other
 users fill in the details. You could enlist other users' help on the
 macports-users mailing list.

 > Please try to look at this from the point of view of the administrators
 and end-users

 I don't think anybody needs convincing that this would be a good idea; I
 think we all agree on that. We just need to know exactly what aspects of
 MacPorts are inconvenient for multiuser scenarios, and how specifically
 those problems could be corrected by MacPorts.

 > Compare this to installing stuff on Linux - when you do that, it does
 work for all users, without such hackery.

 I don't have first-hand experience with Linux package managers. How do
 they accomplish this, specifically? Perhaps we can adopt some of their
 techniques.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/36323#comment:5>
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