Packages ignoring applications_dir

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Sep 8, 2011, at 21:56, Scott Webster wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 7:06 PM, Bryan Blackburn wrote:
>> On Thu, Sep 08, 2011 at 06:52:22PM -0700, Scott Webster said:
>>> It forces a build from source if you use a non-standard prefix?  Wouldn't it
>>> be straightforward to just replicate the same files into an alternate
>>> location?  The situation here seems slightly more complex since we're
>>> outside the $prefix/ tree...
>> 
>> Yup, if your prefix is not /opt/local, port always builds from source.
>> Libraries and executables both have hardcoded paths in them (you can use
>> 'otool -L /some/lib/or/executable' to see) so building to one location then
>> moving will definitely break things.
>> 
>> There are also some ports with things like ${prefix}/etc and other paths
>> compiled into binaries, config files with paths, and so on.  All of that
>> means relocating would be a mess at best...
>> 
> 
> Thanks for the explanation!  I guess now to complete my education I
> should go look up how Mac OS X deals with moving application bundles
> around...

Application bundles are painstakingly crafted by their developers so that relocation is possible. They are a completely different animal from the kind of command-line software most MacPorts ports provide.