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Date:      Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:34:22 -0600
From:      Paul Schmehl <pauls@utdallas.edu>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Cc:        Mel <fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net>, Steve Bertrand <steve@ibctech.ca>
Subject:   Re: lang/php5 port
Message-ID:  <8C4EF0DE64745893F3E3EE3D@utd65257.utdallas.edu>
In-Reply-To: <200812170818.48243.fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net>
References:  <C56DB0C4.6B14%fsb@thefsb.org> <494856EB.5000608@ibctech.ca> <1889F6A8DE3863AB25C59556@Macintosh-2.local> <200812170818.48243.fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net>

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--On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 08:18:47 +0100 Mel=20
<fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net> wrote:

> On Wednesday 17 December 2008 04:33:51 Paul Schmehl wrote:
>> --On December 16, 2008 7:33:31 PM -0600 Steve Bertrand <steve@ibctech.ca>
>>
>> wrote:
>> > One of the reasons I've had to edit Makefile manually was because a
>> > client needed JPEG support.
>> >
>> > At the time, `make config' didn't provide that option.
>>
>> You should *never* need to edit a Makefile in a port.  (Well, extremely
>> rarely.)
>
> More often then you think. I encourage understanding the system and editing
> to  suit your needs. It's a transparent system, unlike many others out there,
> so  you might as well make good use of it.
>
> Though a lot of things can be handled by:
> 1) environment variables (temporary)
> 2) /etc/make.conf (permanent)
> 3) Makefile.local (permanent, inclusion is at bsd.port.pre.mk stage which
> allows you to override hardcoded settings)
>
> It is needed in some cases to edit the makefile to fix things or remove
> dependencies that the maintainer didn't find necessary to remove or even to
> fix bugs.

I agree with you with one caveat.  Make sure that you know what you're doing=20
before you do this, and be prepared for the consequences.  For example, if you=20
edit any files in a port, they will be overwritten when you update your ports.=20
That means you'll have to make those edits again.  If you're maintaining your=20
own workstation, that might be an educational experience.  If you're=20
maintaining servers, that could cause an outage while you try to remember what=20
your edits were.

If you think a port is incorrectly built (unnecessary dependencies, for=20
example) there's nothing wrong with submitting a PR and asking the maintainer=20
to update the port.  If the maintainer rejects your changes, you can always=20
edit locally later, but your submission could benefit thousands of people.

IOW, if you're the smartest guy on the block, please don't keep it to yourself.

--=20
Paul Schmehl (pauls@utdallas.edu)
Senior Information Security Analyst
The University of Texas at Dallas
http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/

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