macport user advice

[Bryan Blackburn]

On Thu, Mar 05, 2009 at 07:08:09PM -0800, Artie Ziff said:
> Hello,
> 
> I did th followiong command:
> 
> port -vu upgrade outdated
> 
> I see things ended like this:
[...]
> -lXpm -lX11 -lXau -lXdmcp -lintl -liconv -lc
> ../kpathsea/.libs/libkpathsea.a -lm
> i686-apple-darwin9-gcc-4.0.1: 1/lib: No such file or directory

That's mentioned on the problem hotlist:

<http://trac.macports.org/wiki/ProblemHotlist#Aportfailedtobuildwithamessagereferringto1lib:Nosuchfileordirectory>

[...]
> 
> How to manage MacPort after you have been adding packages for a couple
> of years? Are there any good web pages with advice on managing the
> MacPort tree? I want to prune mine.

That might make a good new wiki page, but to cover a bit of the basics:

sudo port uninstall inactive

will remove inactive ports (assuming you don't have any you specifically
deactivated for a reason).  These usually build up through using 'port
upgrade'.  Other than that, review 'port installed' for things you no longer
need, and you can install the port_cutleaves port to remove orphaned ports
that were installed as dependencies of stuff you no longer have.

> 
> Is there a way to start over? i.e. deleting everything and then
> providing a "manifest" of the packages you want, somewhat like the
> Gentoo Linux "world" file.

Currently there's only the brute-force method of using 'port installed' to
get the list of what you have, then removing everything:

<http://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ#HowdoIremoveoruninstallMacPorts>

then install MacPorts and reinstall what you need from the list prior.

> 
> How do I determine why I have a particular package on my system? For
> example, why am I compiling "i686-apple-darwin9-gcc-4.0.1" ? :)

That's the gcc for Intel-based Macs, but it's usually called via just gcc.

> 
> And lastly and more specifically, is there an easy work-around to keep
> my build moving forward? Why did the gcc fail? Clearly, "1/lib" does not
> exist. :)

See above.

Bryan


> 
> Apologies if all of these questions have been answered before... If so,
> then I am happy to read the archives.
> 
> Cheers!
>