From owner-freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Dec 1 07:06:02 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 668C6106566C for ; Wed, 1 Dec 2010 07:06:02 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from ibdmbk@yahoo.com) Received: from nm7.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com (nm7.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com [98.139.91.77]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 424628FC14 for ; Wed, 1 Dec 2010 07:06:02 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [98.139.91.66] by nm7.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Dec 2010 06:53:46 -0000 Received: from [98.139.91.50] by tm6.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Dec 2010 06:53:46 -0000 Received: from [127.0.0.1] by omp1050.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Dec 2010 06:53:46 -0000 X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-3 X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 520038.37154.bm@omp1050.mail.sp2.yahoo.com Received: (qmail 20926 invoked by uid 60001); 1 Dec 2010 06:53:46 -0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoo.com; s=s1024; t=1291186426; bh=JM6YfnDLUowRriWxcCElH+8TmmB9pA7BrVvGNrNrZpo=; h=Message-ID:X-YMail-OSG:Received:X-Mailer:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=aaulZSfOLN4iABF2QwhYnNpYhrQlXygeX01DB5P0MUTOYMbe/22ylIYfuaX33i+MUhDzpCyRS4acJQ1ikP2NTojjxqF3MHsi6TwdXZmFg2Y766k9aUg6iTKJ1m7xY2pwUeDUkrZkxXLLClgpK6u7b4CGK/rnL4m7cYsytDRkxVM= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.com; h=Message-ID:X-YMail-OSG:Received:X-Mailer:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=27yKFfNCjsh1H8xFf/ifs/sN2iSdkChxRztLj6+85c0BQgCLmaXem8c/caOyf5Z3gPs/MucYdj0w56nsKEhoGVZLf+h9jUyB4BLoQy4TeiAdNaRjTQ2RD090gPmdtDYPlzhqMh8ab66R/wZgMd1cqlDPXIxUGNVp5yDPNLYvnoI=; Message-ID: <137508.95194.qm@web45304.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> X-YMail-OSG: 5LCaX4UVM1k9LnCZwjd4UuIEu8fTlTpCCTIX1BJJ1Epwy9N IUN7VspOWEVe1RrQJNZf6mmGjkk7n_pJQwTEGQ3kILl1HBKx3Lcsb2gxNcIU 7.gM19bW6dfeEPaRoju6eeTWH3vR_qDTSE3Qs.NI3o5jll_Yz_5QXDP9YgLy JlyWZzLdcfhYYrmcLag1uK2FK6_ZTFc3KuoWAgMzCwBjHanWLUpqQRe9e7dS Oq8gkv_CuZfmFGcaJOYnO9SB.qJB4cDRze0DHfHSESkOIqs0r5qCgWQQfCIr 76bZO3qIVDRdvPXKPBoqeaf4- Received: from [67.40.255.97] by web45304.mail.sp1.yahoo.com via HTTP; Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:53:45 PST X-Mailer: YahooMailClassic/11.4.9 YahooMailWebService/0.8.107.285259 Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:53:45 -0800 (PST) From: M K To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailman-Approved-At: Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:15:02 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Subject: Port updating instructions and portmaster -a X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:06:02 -0000 Hi, As posted to: http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=19789 I'd like to express my feedback generally to port maintainers. The upgrade instructions posted in /usr/ports/UPDATING are generally excellent. And they can probably be enhanced to better serve users of your ports. Specifically, Code: portmaster -a or Code: portupgrade -a as a port update instruction is imprecise at best and inadvisable at worst. The command would rebuild all ports for which a newer version exists in the ports tree. However, that includes even ports which do not have a dependency on or any relation at all to your port. And the user may have good reasons for refusing to install the newest version of any port unrelated to yours. In addition, the command may not be entirely sufficient. If a dependent port were to be updated first, before your port, then Code: portmaster -a might not rebuild a dependent port if it were up to date. At the very least a choice of two options would be great. A less specific command of Code: portmaster -a in addition to a more specific command of Code: portmaster -R -r - or the equivalents - would probably be a big help at little cost. And if the former were truly appropriate, then a brief explanation why would help the users better gauge the impact of change. Given the time, the users could pick and choose which ports to update. Keep in mind not everyone has yet acquired expert skill. But multiply those man-hours spent by the hundreds of thousands or millions, and you will probably agree that better and more specific update instructions will save countless hours and best serve your user base. Sincerely, and thanks for your consideration.