At 11:56 PM +0100 2/26/13, Chris Jones wrote:
> A simple "notes happened above" message would be ideal.
Conversely, we'd be spewing twice as many messages
if the install isn't interrupted.
Why? If the messages were _only_ printed at the end?
Why move where we're printing them when a simple "hey, scroll up"
will suffice?
Not everyone has their scroll history set to a reasonable size (in
fact the default is often quite small) so if a lot of ports where
installed, it may not even be possible to scroll up enough to see
them... So I don't think you can just assume this will always work.
I think the messages should probably be printed at the end, in one
place. I don't particularly care either way if they are printed as
well when the port in question is installed, but would tend toward
yes, they should.
So, my observation and proposal generated a substantial volume of discussion...
The good: this seems to indicate that a number of people recognize
the current situation is less-than-ideal.
The bad: no clear consensus on how to improve.
For consideration: it was a user's problem with the port kdenlive
that prompted the discussion. Of its 270 dependencies, 6 use Notes
(aspell, dbus, ffmpeg, kdelibs4, hunspell and python27; thanks
pixilla) or approximately 2%. [1] So, for a new user who comes here
specifically to install kdenlive as their first--maybe only--port, it
would be a miracle if they actually noticed ANY of these messages.
Using a TextEdit window--for the 2% of ports needing to pass
post-activation information to the user--would act much like the
ReadMe window many .dmg installers finish with. To be clear, I was
suggesting one window containing all the notes from that install run.
It won't happen that often but it sure highlights important info for
new users.
For MacPorts experts, a command line switch and/or configuration
setting could suppress these abominations. (Jan, please don't bother
reiterating your opinion...you've made yourself crystal clear. I'd
like to hear from others.)
That said, just printing all the Notes messages at the end of an
install run would be a huge improvement. Doesn't matter if only 1
dependency installed or everything; if a port with a Note installed,
presumably the user needs to address that requirement.
Craig
[1] Also checked the rdeps for another sizable package I have
installed: gramps. It has 192 dependencies of which 4 use Notes;
again about 2%.
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