In a mess with libc++ libstdc++ and OSX 10.7.5 Lion

[Ian Wadham]

I am in a right royal mess with some KDE 4 applications and libraries from MacPorts
on which I depend.  After a failed "sudo port upgrade outdated" run all my KDE 4 apps
give OSX popup messages like "kmymoney cannot be opened because of a problem"
and they wil not start.  The most serious (for me) is KMyMoney, which holds all my
finances and investments, and it is time for me to do annual accounting and tax.

I am using OSX 10.7.5 Lion and MacPorts 2.4.1.

It was some time since I had done a port upgrade outdated, maybe a year or more.
However a "sudo port selfupdate" showed that I was already at macports 2.4.1.  I then
ran and saved lists of requested and outdated ports and uninstalled a few ports I no
longer need.  Then I started "sudo port upgrade outdated".

The terminal output ended with multiple repetititions of:
Warning: reinplace /include/s@\(utils\.h\)@src/\1 at g didn't change anything in /opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_devel_akonadi/akonadi/work/akonadi-1.13.1.20141210/server/tests/unittest/searchtest.cpp

Followed by:
--->  Configuring akonadi
Error: akonadi does not support your selected MacPorts C++ runtime. libc++ must be selected and C++-based ports built against it.
Error: Please follow the instructions on https://trac.macports.org/wiki/LibcxxOnOlderSystems.
Error: After adding the required options to macports.conf, reinstall all ports like you would when switching macOS versions.
Error: Follow step 3 on https://trac.macports.org/wiki/Migration in order to do this.
Error: Failed to configure akonadi: libstdc++ unsupported.
Error: See /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_devel_akonadi/akonadi/main.log for details.
Error: Follow https://guide.macports.org/#project.tickets to report a bug.

I understand what these messages mean and I have read the Macports Wiki pages
referred to, but I am uncertain what to do next.

1. Do I need to do any cleanup of the failed run before doing anything else?  If so,
     what command(s) should I use?

2. I had a local ports tree that I no longer use.  I have commented out the reference
    to it in sources.conf but do I need to re-run portindex?  Or would that have been
    taken care of when I ran "sudo port selfupdate"?  I have not found any way to
    re-index and include just the standard ports.

3. Can I revert to earlier versions of apps and libraries (which could at least be used
    to keep my accountant happy)?  If so, what commands should I use?  There are
    scores, maybe hundreds, of ports to be reactivated and there are probably lots
    that are old but still active, because the upgrade run never got to them.

4. If I stay with Lion, I understand that I have to uninstall everything, make some
    adjustments to macports.conf and then re-build from source and continue to
    do so into the future.

    OTOH I could go down to the Apple shop and get them to upgrade me to Sierra
    and then I could re-install MacPorts apps from binaries but I would also have to
    upgrade other non-Apple software I depend on a lot every day, mainly Firefox
    and LibreOffice.

    Either approach could take days (elapsed) and many hours of computer time.
    Which way would be best for me to go?

I used to be a KDE developer until about 2 years ago, so I am happy working with
commands and scripts, and I have saved lists of requested ports and of the new and
old versions of outdated ports.

Hope you can help,
Ian W.