[MacPorts] #39897: Add 'optional' or 'recommended' metadata tags to portfile spec.

[MacPorts]

#39897: Add 'optional' or 'recommended' metadata tags to portfile spec.
--------------------------+--------------------------------
  Reporter:  c.herbig@…   |      Owner:  macports-tickets@…
      Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
  Priority:  Normal       |  Milestone:
 Component:  base         |    Version:
Resolution:               |   Keywords:
      Port:               |
--------------------------+--------------------------------

Comment (by larryv@…):

 I don’t think this is worth the development effort if all it does is
 display a list of maybe-useful ports. That’s what notes are for—to provide
 a single place to define information that should be displayed after a port
 has been installed. It’s not the most structured solution, but defining a
 wholly new Portfile option with special syntax (“description” fields and
 the like) seems needlessly complex.

 Likewise, simply giving “recommended” and “optional” labels to different
 dependencies based on the variants that require them would add complexity
 without commensurate utility.

 As far as I’m concerned, the only functionality that merits this is the
 ability to operate on recommended ports in the same way that we can
 currently operate on dependencies and dependents. (As you mentioned, many
 package managers allow for this.) It would probably require a great deal
 more work than simply adding a new option. The dependency engine would
 have to be made aware of this new relationship, and the semantics of the
 relationship would have to be thoroughly discussed.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/39897#comment:11>
MacPorts <http://www.macports.org/>
Ports system for OS X