[MacPorts] #49501: Spaces and Backslashes in Group Names

[MacPorts]

#49501: Spaces and Backslashes in Group Names
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  Reporter:  citibob@…  |      Owner:  macports-tickets@…
      Type:  defect     |     Status:  reopened
  Priority:  Low        |  Milestone:
 Component:  base       |    Version:  2.3.4
Resolution:             |   Keywords:
      Port:             |
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Changes (by citibob@…):

 * status:  closed => reopened
 * resolution:  invalid =>


Comment:

 I'm not going to dispute the logic of the above reply, and I agree 100%
 that spaces and backslashes in filenames are a BAD IDEA.  However, we are
 stuck with them for all practical purposes.  This computer network is at a
 large, well-known Federal agency --- almost certainly it's a Windows
 network at its core.  The main job of IT is to make sure that people can
 run MS Office on their MS Desktops, and to deny root access to as many
 users as possible.  Getting the latest GCC and boost running under
 MacPorts is NOT their job.  You can guess how far I got when I submitted a
 ticket for this problem to them, asking them to fix the group names ---
 that's right, I didn't even get a reply.

 There is often a difference between standard specs and facts on the
 ground.  Spaces and backslashes are de facto legal in Mac group names,
 regardless of what the Open Group spec says.  Asking Apple to make their
 system Open Group compliant in this regard (by rejecting illegal group
 names) will likely be as successful as my above efforts with our large
 Federal Agency IT department.

 Therefore, we are stuck with these crazy group names, and MacPorts is the
 only viable place where the issue can be resolved.  There seem to be two
 ways forward:

 1. Fix the issue, even thought it isn't really the "fault" of MacPorts.
 There are plenty of cases where software package A has to create a
 workaround for a bug in software package B.

 2. Decide that non-root MacPorts is not supported on the Macs in our large
 Federal agency because our systems don't (quite) conform to Open Group
 standards.  This won't stop us from using it, because I've already created
 a workaround for the problem --- one that I would publish and share with
 others who also need to run MacPorts.  But it would seem better if we
 could get this issue fixed the "right" way, rather than relying on my
 hackish post-configure Python script to do the job.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/49501#comment:2>
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