Removed ports - looking from the bench

[Warren Block]

On Sun, 11 Sep 2011, Greg Byshenk wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 01:05:49PM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote:
>>
>> Why?
>
> Because, in the cases here under discussion, there is somethin "wrong"
> (for some value of 'wrong') with the software in question.  I can't
> speak for Matthias or Chris, but I think the point here is that (at
> least some) people don't want to make foot-shooting easier.

Slippery slope: consider PHP, or Apache, or any MTA.  Or newfs.

> Someone who can't figure out how to install some software if it takes
> more than 'portinstall <software>' almost certainly isn't knowledgeable
> enough to evaluate the risks of installing buggy, exploitable, or
> unmaintained software.

The ports system and FreeBSD in general are not capable of accurately 
assessing a user's abilities or situation.

Informing the user of problems with a port is certainly within the scope 
of the ports system, or a hypothetical "bring back a removed port" tool.

But the responsibility for the installation and use of any software is 
all on the informed user.  The difficulty or ease of bringing back a 
removed port does not change that.