From owner-freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jan 5 17:37:42 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 89A2616A403 for ; Fri, 5 Jan 2007 17:37:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fbsd06@mlists.homeunix.com) Received: from mxout-03.mxes.net (mxout-03.mxes.net [216.86.168.178]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 635C313C441 for ; Fri, 5 Jan 2007 17:37:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fbsd06@mlists.homeunix.com) Received: from gumby.homeunix.com (unknown [87.81.140.128]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.mxes.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2858E51926 for ; Fri, 5 Jan 2007 12:37:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 17:37:38 +0000 From: RW To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20070105173738.2f4d86c4@gumby.homeunix.com> In-Reply-To: <459D08CA.7060104@infracaninophile.co.uk> References: <459D08CA.7060104@infracaninophile.co.uk> X-Mailer: Sylpheed-Claws 2.6.0 (GTK+ 2.10.6; i386-portbld-freebsd6.1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: DEPENDS -- is it time to remove it? 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: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:37:42 -0000 On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:01:46 +0000 Matthew Seaman wrote: > > Dear all, > > The ports make infrastructure has a whole series of variables for > showing how one port depends on another: LIB_DEPENDS, BUILD_DEPENDS, > RUN_DEPENDS etc. Amongst these is what looks to me like the > vestigial remnant of an earlier phase of the ports: the plain, > unmodified 'DEPENDS' variable. > > This seems to have an effect apparently like all of the other DEPENDS > variants rolled together, but unlike the others you can't give it a > filename or a shlib to use as a test that whatever it references has > been installed, so it always causes its target to be installed. > > The Porter's Handbook says (Section 5.7.10): > > "Do not use DEPENDS unless there is no other way the behaviour you > want can be accomplished. It will cause the other port to always be > built (and installed, by default), and the dependency will go into the > packages as well. If this is really what you need, you should > probably write it as BUILD_DEPENDS and RUN_DEPENDS instead--at least > the intention will be clear." > > Plus it seems that there is nowadays a grand total of just 3 ports out > of 16,300 or so that actually uses this variable: Isn't DEPENDS still a sensible way of making one metaport depend on another. For example if someone wanted to create a personal desktop metaport that depends on KDE, xorg etc.