Port commit questions regarding python versions and philosophy for splitting ports

[Michelle Gill]

Greetings MacPorters,

I have just applied for port commit rights and have a couple of questions regarding the submission of port builds. I haven't seen answers to these on the listserve or documentation, but maybe I've missed them.

* When building python packages (or any package where there are multiple versions maintained), does one have to build to support all versions? I only have python 2.6 on my system right now. Would I need to install python 2.5 (and 2.7, etc.) so I can build a port for multiple versions of python? Is support for other python versions handled in a way that doesn't involve the submission of packages for each python version?

* What is the philosophy regarding the incorporation of small accessory packages (say as variants) into an existing packge vs creating a separate build? I have built the DerApproximator accessory package for py26-openopt and am unsure if it should be consolidated with the existing OpenOpt package or if I should submit a new package. My sense is that variants are for compile time flags and that I should submit DerApproximator as a separate package.

Any comments you have on these two questions are greatly appreciated.

Kindest regards and looking forward to getting involved,
Michelle Gill

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Michelle L. Gill, Ph.D.
NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Palmer Laboratory
Columbia University Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
Black Building, Room 511
650 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
Email: mg2917 at columbia.edu, michelle.lynn.gill at gmail.com
Phone: (212) 305-0257
Fax: (212) 305-6949