Dependency Problem of Upgrading Gnuplot: A Possible Bug

[Daniel J. Luke]

On Jul 24, 2007, at 5:52 PM, Xin Liu wrote:
> Then what's the point of having the bin style dependencies?

exactly ... that's why the use is discouraged ... it only causes  
problems.

> It's
> intended to solve the external dependency problem, otherwise the
> portfile author would use port style instead. With the current
> implementation of the "upgrade" command, the bin style is basically
> useless (because anyone who performs an upgrade will have the internal
> dependencies installed anyway), and there is no solution to
> accommodate external dependencies in a convenient way.

Again, this is a reason why the usage is discouraged. I'm sure we'd  
be happy to include a patch to fix the issue if it doesn't create  
other issues as well (as your proposed change would, since it would  
also incorrectly prevent macports-provided ports from being upgraded  
if they were installed to satisfy a bin/lib style dependency).

> "-n" is not an
> option, because it also prevents other dependencies that lie within
> macports from being upgraded.

You could just remove the dependency from the portfile, if -n won't  
work for you and you're insistent on using an external dependency.

> On the other hand, if the code never upgrades bin style dependencies,
> I cannot see any problem. I'd assume (almost, if not absolutely) every
> portfile author only uses bin style and lib style to accommodate
> external dependencies.

The third part of a bin/lib style dependency is the port that can be  
used to meet the dependency.

> If his/her package depends on other software
> that needs to be upgraded by macports, he/she should use port style
> instead.

Indeed, that's why (as I've said a few times now), the bin/lib style  
dependencies are discouraged in favor of port: style dependencies.
--
Daniel J. Luke
+========================================================+
| *---------------- dluke at geeklair.net ----------------* |
| *-------------- http://www.geeklair.net -------------* |
+========================================================+
|   Opinions expressed are mine and do not necessarily   |
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