Uninstalling ports & meaning of install variants

[Ryan Schmidt]

Don't forget to Reply All so that your reply also goes to the mailing  
list. My replies are inline below.


On Mar 25, 2008, at 22:42, istojic at gmail.com wrote:

> Thanks for your answers, Ryan.
>
> On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 12:12 AM, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>
>> To uninstall a port foo, type "sudo port uninstall foo".
>>
>> There is a bug where the files will not be properly uninstalled if
>> you specify the case of the port name incorrectly. For example, if
>> you install the port ImageMagick, but then say "sudo port uninstall
>> imagemagick" (instead of "sudo port uninstall ImageMagick") the files
>> will remain.
>
> I performed the uninstall logged in as root, but otherwise the  
> instruction matched what you suggested along with the correct  
> case.   Are there any other bugs that would cause the files to remain?

Not that I'm aware of, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

> I had read that files would remain if they are dependencies for  
> other ports.

If another port has a library or runtime dependency on the one you  
are trying to uninstall, MacPorts will prevent you from uninstalling  
the port.


>> "sudo port install php5" installs a basic command-line version of
>> php5 with features most users will want. "sudo port install php5
>> +apache2" installs command-line and apache2 versions of php5. "sudo
>> port install php5 +apache2 +fastcgi +mysql5" installs command-line
>> and apache2 and fastcgi versions of php5 which also include mysql5
>> support. None of the variants of the php5 port modify your php.ini,
>> but there's also nothing that needs to be done to the php.ini to for
>> example activate mysql5 support. It's not like on Windows where you
>> need to load a separate DLL. When you select the +mysql5 variant,
>> mysql5 support is simply built into the php5 library and/or binary.
>> Does that explain it?
>
> I'm still a bit confused.  When I attempted to select the variants,  
> it did things like create an apache directory with its own bin  
> directory (apachectl, httpd, etc), httpd.conf, etc.  This to me  
> seems more like a duplicate installation of apache than it is  
> compiling the appropriate PHP modules for apache.  Does this make  
> sense or am I explaining what I'm seeing poorly?

The php5 port does not install a directory called apache. The apache2  
port does install a directory called apache2; maybe that's what you  
mean. If you install php5 +apache2, the apache2 port is built and  
installed for you (if you had not already done so). MacPorts is  
designed to use its own software, not Apple's software; see the FAQ  
for why. php5 +apache2 also builds and installs an apache2-compatible  
php5 module into that apache2 directory.