Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:52:02 +0100 From: Alexander Leidinger <Alexander@Leidinger.net> To: ports@freebsd.org Subject: Why does everybody switch to dynamic plists? Message-ID: <20050121205202.4092fc5a@Magellan.Leidinger.net>
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Hi,
can someone please tell me why people enjoy to use dynamic plists, even
when there was a static plist already?
With a dynamic plist:
- We lose the ability to search for files which aren't installed.
(useful for users)
- We lose the ability to determine if a particular port contains what
we search.
(useful for users)
- We lose the ability to check just with grep if two ports install
conflicting files (in case we get a report of a conflict it's very
nice to not need to install a port to verify the conflict).
(useful for users and port developers)
- We lose the ability to use portlint to check the plist (if the
maintainer checks the generated one he just can use a static plist).
BTW.: Does portlint know how to check the embedded plist (the
Makefile variables)?
(useful for port developers)
- We lose the ability to maybe answer support requests without the need
to install the software.
(useful for "the frontliners")
+ We don't need to take care if the plist changes.
(useful for port developers)
I count 1 positive and 5 negative aspects.
If the developer of a port puts the dynamic plist generation into a
Makefile target instead of inlining it into the build/install process,
he doesn't needs to put alot more effort into the development process
(just one "make <generate-the-plist-target>") and gets the benefits of
static plists too.
Maybe I've overlooked something, but so far I haven't seen a dynamic
plist which needs to be a dynamic one. So I think at least 99% of our
dynamic plists don't need to be dynamic.
Bye,
Alexander.
--
The computer revolution is over. The computers won.
http://www.Leidinger.net Alexander @ Leidinger.net
GPG fingerprint = C518 BC70 E67F 143F BE91 3365 79E2 9C60 B006 3FE7
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