On 2018-01-11, at 12:28 AM, Jan Stary wrote: > > > Does anyone now? If my port requires (say) python (any python), > what is the right way to say that? (In some cases, having > /usr/bin/python is just fine.) >
MacPorts tries to undertake the principle of reproducible builds <https://reproducible-builds.org/>. A port is built as much as possible the same way on every system and issues are more easily debugged. Specifying a fully determined version of python or perl helps to remove the issue of different versions building the software differently. In the main, port submissions are required to have a fully spec'd version of python or perl for this reason -- a version that is verified to work correctly, and consistent across all builds. If you were managing a system of 20,000 ports and users of all different skill levels, you would eventually come to the same conclusion. In simple cases, it might be allowed to slide. K
