On 07.06.12 08:27, Dave Hayes wrote:
Personally, a 'pkg-options-descr' text file would suit me just fine.
I have considered this lack of information about port options myself.
Sometimes, when installing "new" (to your understanding) software
finding out what those options actually do and what are the real
implications is very hard. The same situation, even worse happens when
you update an port and the new version has introduced yet new options.
Sometimes, hints on what those do end up in /usr/ports/UPDATING.
It is clear, that something has to be done. Unfortunately, you can't
just force port maintainers to document it, because of many reasons. One
not very obvious reason is that many ports use pretty much 'generic'
options, like WITHOUT_CUPS. For most such ports, this means "I don't
want cups on my system", but in few it might mean something different.
Finding adequate way to document all this is a bit tricky. Good ideas
are welcome.
The idea Warren Block has is very useful and I fully agree that there
should be some option to "reset to default". It would be also extremely
helpful if the dialog UI indicates somehow which options are set to
something different from the default. Lacking this information is a big
waste of time, especially when upgrading older ports. Or having the
saved options lying around from an previous install of that port.
At least, some way of mandatory describing of what setting particular
option for a port does, outside of what is found in the Makefile and in
plain English will be very, very useful.
[off topic]
By the way, on the "waste of time". I view it a bit differently, when it
comes to internet mailing lists. Suppose I waste 30 minutes of my time
researching and preparing an response to a "stupid" question. It is
apparently my decision to do so and nobody is blaming anyone. But
imagine, this mailing list is read by tens, hundreds, thousands or even
tens of thousands people (Google searches not accounted for). All those
people are going to read the stupid question and the trivial answer.
This is huge waste of time. Doesn't help that all those people are
willingly wasting their time.
Of course, we need discussions like this as a lot of people learn new
things. Just the proper balance sometimes is difficult to achieve. But
those who ask, will do better for everyone to try to comprehend what
they have been told, before continuing their jihad.
Daniel
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