distfile downloads failing on https

[Ken Cunningham]

> On Feb 23, 2018, at 01:49, Jan Stary <hans at stare.cz> wrote:
> 
> On Feb 22 18:04:23, ken.cunningham.webuse at gmail.com wrote:
>>>> You are done. No more circular dependency.
>>> Yes. One installation of MP depends on another installation.
>>> 
>> 
>> That's not circular. Circular is when an installation of MacPorts depends on itself,
>> and is therefore fragile. The installation of libcurl in /opt/bootstrap is fully independent of the one in /opt/local, and is not fragile.
> 
> I should have been clearer, sorry:
> Yes means "Yes, you are right, it's no longer circular" :-)
> 
>> I say this so as not to dissuade all those out there with
>> broken MacPorts installations from using this method. 
> 
> In the meantime, I installed me a standalone (lib)curl in $HOME
> and build the real MP against that - having a separate bootstrap MP installation
> just to have curl seemed like overkill.


I tried to see a way around it, too .... but libcurl links against libssl, so you'd need one of those freestanding as well as you want to stay away from the one in /opt/local, , and a libz probably, and there was yet another that you'd need ... can't think of it just now. And then the new certs as well... 

In the end, a freestanding /opt/bootstrap just came forward as the best way out it -- let Macports take care of all the details!



> 
>> I believe it is presently the only reliable method of getting
>> a generally working MacPorts installation that can download all distfiles
>> on older systems until either distfile mirroring is fixed,
>> or until we bundle in libcurl.
> 
> I root for the dist mirorrs


Absolutely. I looked into the git webhooks a while back  but the fix did not appear to be a 1 day thing, for me at least. 

Finding someone with those skills to spend enough time on that has proven  to be tricky, as such people are on 10.13 usually and don't need this.




> 
>    Jan
>