From andrew@areilly.bpa.nu  Wed Mar 26 05:05:16 2008
Return-Path: <andrew@areilly.bpa.nu>
Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34])
	by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B1B78106564A
	for <FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org>; Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:05:16 +0000 (UTC)
	(envelope-from andrew@areilly.bpa.nu)
Received: from omta01ps.mx.bigpond.com (omta01ps.mx.bigpond.com [144.140.82.153])
	by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 435378FC20
	for <FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org>; Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:05:16 +0000 (UTC)
	(envelope-from andrew@areilly.bpa.nu)
Received: from oaamta01ps.mx.bigpond.com ([124.188.162.219])
          by omta01ps.mx.bigpond.com with ESMTP
          id <20080326050514.HKK864.omta01ps.mx.bigpond.com@oaamta01ps.mx.bigpond.com>
          for <FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org>;
          Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:05:14 +0000
Received: from areilly.bpa.nu ([124.188.162.219])
          by oaamta01ps.mx.bigpond.com with ESMTP
          id <20080326050513.TRZQ19122.oaamta01ps.mx.bigpond.com@areilly.bpa.nu>
          for <FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org>;
          Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:05:13 +0000
Received: (qmail 79760 invoked by uid 501); 26 Mar 2008 05:05:11 -0000
Message-Id: <20080326050511.79759.qmail@areilly.bpa.nu>
Date: 26 Mar 2008 05:05:11 -0000
From: Andrew Reilly <areilly@bigpond.net.au>
Reply-To: Andrew Reilly <areilly@bigpond.net.au>
To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org
Cc:
Subject: There is no way to know what port options mean (in general)
X-Send-Pr-Version: 3.113
X-GNATS-Notify:

>Number:         122105
>Category:       ports
>Synopsis:       There is no way to know what port options mean (in general)
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       serious
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    freebsd-ports-bugs
>State:          closed
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:  
>Class:          change-request
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Wed Mar 26 05:10:00 UTC 2008
>Closed-Date:    Wed Mar 26 05:20:38 UTC 2008
>Last-Modified:  Wed Mar 26 05:20:38 UTC 2008
>Originator:     Andrew Reilly
>Release:        FreeBSD 7.0-STABLE amd64
>Organization:
>Environment:
System: FreeBSD duncan.reilly.home 7.0-STABLE FreeBSD 7.0-STABLE #4: Sat Mar 22 21:15:39 EST 2008 root@duncan:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/DUNCAN amd64


	
>Description:
        "make config" in many port directories produces an
        interactive dialog where one may select various make
	environment variables to be set.  There is a one line
	description of each flag, to help one make this
	selection.  Unfortunately, in many situations, this
	description is unhelpful, as flag FOO will have
	description "foo support", or possiblly "libfoo
	support".  Unless one is fairly well familiar with both
	the package and the libraries, one can not readily know
	what the implications of setting these controls one way
	or the other is.
	
        To complicate things, some options are mutually
        exclusive, and one only discovers this when the build or
        install subsequently fails.

>How-To-Repeat:
	make config something like print/ghostscript-gpl, and wonder
	what a FreeType bridge might be ("bridge", as opposed to just
	using the FreeType library to render TrueType fonts?)
	Notice that SVGALIB -- svgalib support doesn't mention
	that svgalib is i386-only: you have to wait for the
	build to fail to discover that.
>Fix:

        In lieu of interactive F1 or ? keys popping up
        descriptive windows (which could be nice), it would be
        keen if ports could grow a new target with a name like
        "desc-config" that would print out a paragraph (supplied
        by the port creator/maintainer) that had at least a
        (explicit) reference to the port that the config knob
        pulled in as a dependency.  Better would be a short
        paragraph about why one might want to do that, and
        perhaps what alternatives might exist.


>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
State-Changed-From-To: open->closed 
State-Changed-By: edwin 
State-Changed-When: Wed Mar 26 05:18:04 UTC 2008 
State-Changed-Why:  
These kind of conversations can be better done on the mailinglists 
ports@freebsd.org where it is possible for people to really interact 
with each other.. 


http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=122105 
>Unformatted:
