Why was the macports user implemented

[Rodolfo Aramayo]

Ryan,

Please explain to me like if I were a four-year old, why was the user
'macports' implemented?

Is this user supposed to be a user or a group?

Can this implementation change the behavior of Bash scripts designed
to install ports?

E.g.:
==========
#!/opt/local/bin/bash
port install a2ps
port install aalib
port install apache2
port install apr
port install apr-util
port install aquaterm
port install arpack
port install aspell
port install atk
port install atkmm
exit 0
==========

I am asking this because I am seeing strange permissions problems
while running simple installation scripts and when I run the commands
outside the script things work fine

These problems are especially pronounced with Python...

I am still compiling a list of problems I am observing to send the
logs to you guys

Thanks

--R