Darcs checksum failing, even after clean

[Denis Bueno]

Simon Ruderich wrote:
> Bueno, Denis wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > I hope this hasn't already been solved (I subscribed to the list not
> > 5 minutes ago....)
> > 
> > Symptom: I can't get darcs to install; the checksum keeps failing.
> > Expected behavior: Darcs should install. =]
> > 
> > Any ideas?
> > 
> > Denis
> 
> Looks like the download file was changed. To fix this just go to this
> Portfile and update the md5 checksum.
[snip] 
> And then retry the installation. This should fix this problem.

This will indeed correct the problem.  It would be nice, however, to see a
solution that doesn't subvert the whole raison d'être of MD5 checksums in
the first place, namely, to verify the integrity of downloaded files.  Also,
for an end-user to edit his own port descriptions to fix a problem that will
obviously affect the entire user base seems... wrong.

If someone has verified that the new darcs source tarball at darcs.net is
correct, that's fine.  In that case the Portfile in the macports repo should
be updated to reflect the change, so all can benefit.  I can't find anywhere
(e.g. on darcs-users or darcs-devel) that the tarball has been replaced for
any reason, which is suspicious, though probably nothing.

I'm not trying to be mean; but it strikes me as wrong in every way that the
only proposed solution to my problem is "just change the checksum in your
Portfile and you'll be fine".

-Denis