port should explicitly say to use sudo when upgrading

[manulcaux]

I just wanted to keep my port installation up to date and operate as usual, i.e. first update MacPorts and then upgrade outdated ports.

Here is the messages I got :

[Emmanuels:/Applications/cassis5.1last] caux% sudo port selfupdate
Password:
--->  Updating MacPorts base sources using rsync
MacPorts base version 2.6.2 installed,
MacPorts base version 2.6.2 downloaded.
--->  Updating the ports tree
--->  MacPorts base is already the latest version

The ports tree has been updated. To upgrade your installed ports, you should run
  port upgrade outdated
[Emmanuels:/Applications/cassis5.1last] caux% port upgrade outdated
Error: Follow https://guide.macports.org/#project.tickets to report a bug.
[Emmanuels:/Applications/cassis5.1last] caux% 

In fact, it works if I type

sudo  port upgrade outdated

this should be made clear that sudo is mandatory, first in the output message given after the selupdate, and second in the error message sent if the user forgot to use sudo !

And why the sudo is not taken by default when I used it a few second before launching sudo port self update ??

[mf2k (Frank Schima)]

In the future, please use WikiFormatting.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to manulcaux:

this should be made clear that sudo is mandatory, first in the output message given after the selupdate,

Although we do not recommend it (because it is less secure), it is possible to configure MacPorts as a non-root installation. In that case, sudo is not used. So what you are asking for here is for us to identify all the places where we advise the user to use sudo (or don't advise the user to use sudo and should, as you encountered here), but conditionalize that based on whether the user has a root installation or a non-root installation. That's probably several places within MacPorts base, and countless places within individual ports.

and second in the error message sent if the user forgot to use sudo !

I agree, it should print something useful. I don't know why it does not.

And why the sudo is not taken by default when I used it a few second before launching sudo port self update ??

Because that is not how a shell works. MacPorts has no influence over the shell that you run it in.