Why doesn't macports install prebuild packages? / problem with re-installing due to incomplete uninstall

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Dec 8, 2009, at 15:37, Vlado Plaga wrote:

> uninstalled MacPorts as described in the
> documentation, reinstalled a new xcode and MacPorts, and wanted to
> first install DigiKam by simply saying "port install digikam". This
> failed after a short time because the file
> /Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist
> was in the way, when MacPorts tried to activate the dbus port.
> 
> So probably
> "rm /Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist" should be
> added to the uninstall description?
> http://guide.macports.org/#installing.macports.uninstalling

It looks like the uninstall instructions in the FAQ are more up to date:

http://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ#uninstall

I didn't remember we also had uninstall instructions in the guide. Perhaps we should update the guide to match the FAQ entry, then make the FAQ entry a pointer to the guide so it doesn't get out of sync again.

I don't want to specifically mention /Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist because that file is specific to the dbus port. There are undoubtedly other ports that install things in other nonstandard locations but the general uninstall instructions in the FAQ address this sufficiently IMHO by suggesting you first "port uninstall" everything. We could add a note to the instructions though to mention that they might not uninstall absolutely everything.