On Jan 7, 2008, at 21:58, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Given the naive view that a larger version number implies
something a
bit more current and "-devel" implies something a bit more
development- oriented, shouldn't the libtool-devel port either be
renamed or deleted altogether?
The "-devel" suffix indicates a development
(non-production-quality, pre-release) version of a port, according
to the definition of the developer of the software.
Sorry, I'm used to common convention in the Linux arena where the
XXX-devel
package contains the .h files and such necessary to compile code
that uses
XXX, while XXX is a binary containing the libXXX library (.so
files, etc).
Right, that's a difference between MacPorts and some other package
managers. In MacPorts, the .h files and other necessary files for
compiling code are already included in every port. The -devel ports
are merely newer development versions of the software (or, sometimes,
older versions of the software, in the event that no new development
versions have been released following a stable release).
It can be deleted, but presumably the better course of action
would be to update it to the latest development version of
libtool. Although, according to
http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/, 1.9f is the latest
development version, though it is over 3 years old. I guess the
2.1a version is newer, but they seem to be releasing daily new
versions of 2.1a, which isn't helpful.
Given that it's unmaintained, I can't see that deleting it should
be all
that big a deal. It's apparently way behind the current development
bleeding edge (which as you suggest might leave one pretty bloody
to use
it). I guess that given the meaning of "-devel" (is that a consistent
meaning throughout MacPorts?), it's best left as-is.
Ok, let's leave it for now. Perhaps the libtool developers should be
encouraged to release a new development version. Surely something
useful has been changed in the past 3 years to merit a new release.
Once burned, twice shy, so I will stay away from -devel packages in
the
future unless there is no alternative.
Right, there's usually no need to install -devel ports. I don't have
any installed.
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