[enhancement request] port:meson python variants

[RJVB (René Bertin)]

Is there a reason why port:meson doesn't come with the usual python variants or subports?

[mf2k (Frank Schima)]

It is normal for ports to simply use the latest python version if they need python. pyXY- type ports are generally only for python modules.

[RJVB (René Bertin)]

That means you end up having more python versions installed than you may care for. I do agree they should provide a reasonable default version (whether that must always be the very latest version is a different question though).

Note that meson *is* a python module even if it presents itself as an executable.

[mojca (Mojca Miklavec)]

Variants make sense when a port needs to transition to a newer version of dependency, but is not quite compatible yet. Or it would make sense to provide variants if some other program / module needed to access the classes provided by meson. I don't really see much of an added benefit to provide variants here other than the ability for a user to avoid installing another version of python, but we should all be at 3.6 already, shouldn't we? ;)

Even if it is a python module: does any other module or software need its libraries?

[RJVB (René Bertin)]

Replying to mojca:

but we should all be at 3.6 already, shouldn't we? ;)

Pray tell, why? As long as 3.5 is supported I'll happily postpone the upgrade dance.

The day Python, Perl etc. devs find a way to upgrade their engine without having to reinstall all installed packages I'll reconsider, but until then I'm wearing my "I hate updating" T :)