New guy - imapsync port problem/query - p5-net-ssleay

[Boey Maun Suang]

Hi Erik,

On 03/05/2007, at 14:43, Erik Likvarn wrote:

> Also think the error message for a serious problem like a required  
> module being missing such as this should generate an error.   
> Personally I don't think I should have turn on "verbose" to see a  
> critical error like that.

I'm firmly of the opinion that this is really a problem that the  
upstream maintainer should address, because package systems intend  
for installations to be completely automated, hiding output that the  
ordinary user doesn't need, and to quit with information about errors  
if one occurs so that work can be done to fix it and make it  
automatic again.  This is exactly what MacPorts, and every other  
package system that I know of, does.

As you say, the user shouldn't be forced to run the package system in  
a verbose or debug mode to get error messages, but the point is that,  
to do so in this case, the package system would be forced to _guess_  
that there is an error of waiting for user input, and I don't know of  
any way in which this can be done with neither false positives nor  
negatives.

Instead, the package itself should say that there's an error and  
stop.  Someone installing it themselves might want to have user  
interaction, of course, but that shouldn't be the only way to do it.

Kind regards,


Maun Suang

-- 
Boey Maun Suang (Boey is my surname)
Email: boeyms at macports.org