Clean way to uninstall outdated inactive ports

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jul 23, 2008, at 23:39, Ross Walker wrote:

> On 7/23/08 8:32 PM, "Ryan Schmidt" wrote:
>
>> On Jul 23, 2008, at 19:05, Ross Walker wrote:
>>
>>> I still think a feature request for an option to auto-uninstall all
>>> but the last X versions would be nice too...
>>
>> You could file a ticket for this request if you want. But I don't
>> know that I would be excited about having that feature.
>
> Well I just might, but I'll wait and see how the next release looks  
> first.
>
> I think if by default it kept the previous and current versions of  
> a port
> that was upgraded it would allow the user to back-out of an upgrade  
> if it
> proves to be problematic which would be a handy feature to have for
> reliability.

We do already accommodate that of course, since the default is to  
keep all installed versions. If you "port upgrade foo", the old  
version of foo is left behind precisely so that you can go back to it  
if the newer one doesn't work right for you.

You can uninstall older versions manually when you're satisfied the  
new version works. Or you can "port uninstall inactive" to get rid of  
them all. (Before 1.7.0, use "port -f uninstall inactive".)

Inactive previous versions installed isn't the only cleanup task to  
be addressed in MacPorts. There's also the matter of distfiles for  
those older versions, which MacPorts also does not automatically  
clean up. You can remove all of port foo's distfiles (for the current  
and any previous versions) using "port clean --all foo" or you can  
remove all ports' distfiles using "port clean --all all".


>>> Is there a release schedule posted for MacPorts?
>>
>> No. Our release manager, jmpp, showed up briefly in April pushing for
>> a release of 1.6.1 or 1.7.0 but then disappeared again before doing
>> so. We may need to indoctrinate a new release manager. At some point
>> I will probably look at what's involved in making the releases, if
>> nobody else has by then.
>
> It's hard to commit whole hearted to a project and tie down a day  
> job and
> (maybe) a family. I know I have had plenty of good intentions  
> myself that
> have fallen by the roadside.

You got it. :) Especially when the project is on a volunteer basis.