[MacPorts] #51799: add a concept of 'distributions' for ports that work on specific older architectures

[MacPorts]

#51799: add a concept of 'distributions' for ports that work on specific older
architectures
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 Reporter:  kenneth.f.cunningham@…  |      Owner:  macports-tickets@…
     Type:  enhancement             |     Status:  new
 Priority:  Normal                  |  Milestone:
Component:  base                    |    Version:  2.3.4
 Keywords:                          |       Port:
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 A number of macports users (like me) like to continue to make use of
 machines that are tied to older architectures. PPC Tiger, PPC Leopard, and
 X86 Snow Leopard seem to be the most used. I have a number of machines
 that are locked into those states, all doing useful things.

 There are many ports that install correctly on these machines, but as
 ports are updated, there is an increasing likelihood that these systems
 will be left behind. There is not an easy way at present to find a
 collection of ports of various versions that last worked well on PPC
 Tiger, for example -- but there is such a collection, and it contains a
 lot of useful software (Apache2, MySQL, and many more). Yet every time we
 port selfupdate, the entire collection is in jeopardy.

 It would be useful to virtually 'freeze' macports at a certain point in
 time, with tools and ports that work well for a certain architecture. As
 the ports are upgraded / updated beyond that point, the PPC Tiger machine
 (for example) could continue to access the state of macports that last
 worked well. Ports could be updated / added to that 'distribution' as they
 are found to be workable with it.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/51799>
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