#41069: file @5.15_0 gives errors instead of a result ----------------------+-------------------------- Reporter: ralph@… | Owner: ryandesign@… Type: defect | Status: new Priority: Normal | Milestone: Component: ports | Version: 2.2.0 Resolution: | Keywords: Port: file | ----------------------+-------------------------- Comment (by kimmo@…): Replying to [comment:14 jmr@…]:
Replying to [comment:12 kimmo@…]:
Here are my thoughts on the patches, without having an easy way of knowing why they really were added originally.
You can view the commit logs for the patchfiles in Trac.
- patch-getline.diff: this seems unnecessary; the binary is linked correctly and runs without the change
r102948 "Fix build on Snow Leopard"
Well, I don't expect the patch to hurt anything, but without additional info it won't get merged upstream. It might be useful to note that in the patch, though, so that anyone evaluating upstream merging in the future can just move along.
- patch-magic-Magdir-msdos.diff: having file produce different results depending on which packaging system was used seems very undesirable to me. However, a change like this would definitely be appropriate to bring up on the file mailing list or bug tracker.
r41083 “patch the magic information to fix a bogus entry"
Yes, I can see the reasoning. The magic for office files is non-trivial and has been discussed quite a bit on the developers list. (And I'm not expert in it.) I just feel that this kind of a modification to file is undesirable, as it means that file from MacPorts then gives different results from all other installations of file. If this results in someone reporting an issue to the file developers, it is annoying to realize it is different just due to the packaging system used. I would encourage getting it fixed upstream, but I feel I don't have enough understanding of office file formats to pursue it myself. (Sorry.) That said, I'll leave it to the owner of the package to decide how to maintain it. :)
- patch-magic-Makefile.am: an uncompiled collection of the magic entries is not needed, but I could see how it might be interesting as a reference. Was that the reason for the patch? I think proposing this upstream with the reasoning behind it would also be good.
r41083 “add a variant that installs the plain-text magic(5) file”
No real insight from that last one, but apparently at least one person uses it since they filed #23710.
And when it was made default (variant removed) in r102987, the comment only says "always include the plain-text magic" -- no reason given. I'll see if there is a reason not to include it. I could imagine one being that editing the source doesn't result in the compiled version getting updated (similar to "newaliases" and sendmail). -- Ticket URL: <https://trac.macports.org/ticket/41069#comment:16> MacPorts <http://www.macports.org/> Ports system for OS X