BUG: MacPorts shouldn't evaluate variants of non-required dependencies

[ryandesign@…]

This is a follow-up to #12137 in which I experienced this problem:

$ sudo port install glitz +universal
Error: Error executing universal: Default universal variant only works with ports based on configure
Error: Unable to execute port: Error evaluating variants

Turns out it's not complaining about the glitz port, which does use configure, but rather about the XFree86 port, which doesn't use configure. I'm not even using XFree86; I'm using Apple's X11.

I worked around the problem for XFree86 by removing its +universal variant in r26296, since it was nonfunctional anyway, but the underlying problem remains: MacPorts was evaluating the +universal variant of XFree86, although XFree86 wasn't going to get installed. I say MacPorts shouldn't have done that.

[eridius@…]

Erm, you yourself fixed this issue with XFree86 a week ago. Why are you filing this bug?

[ryandesign@…]

I worked around the issue for the XFree86 and closed #12137. This issue is for the fundamental problem in base that remains: that it shouldn't evaluate the variants of ports that won't get installed anyway, as I explained above, since this would have avoided the issue I experienced in #12137, and may avoid other issues for other users in the future.

[jmpp@…]

Milestone Needs developer review deleted