MacPort installer requires Rosetta 2

[gagarine (Simon)]

Running the MacPorts-2.7.1-11-BigSur.pkg do not support M1/Apple silicone and require Rosetta 2.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

I don't have an Apple Silicon machine so I can't confirm or deny this. I don't understand why the installer pkg would require a specific arch however. All the code that the installer runs is JavaScript or shell script. Do you have any more information about what part of the installer needs Rosetta 2?

[gagarine (Simon)]

As soon as I launch the installer I get a warning. Certainly is simply a missing flag in the installer. Adding "arm64" may fix it.

hostArchtectures="x86_64,arm64"

​https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/DeveloperTools/Reference/DistributionDefinitionRef/Chapters/Distribution_XML_Ref.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40005370-CH100-SW41

A related question is why using a .pkg and not directly launch a script like homebrew, composer and many others command line tools.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Replying to gagarine:

A related question is why using a .pkg and not directly launch a script like homebrew, composer and many others command line tools. To install brew I can simply run:

Not related in any way. File another ticket if you would like to suggest that we offer such a feature. We use an installer package because it is Apple's preferred software distribution method. It is secure. Installers are signed. Etc.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

OK, we don't currently set hostArchitectures since it is documented as being optional. This could well be an undocumented change in Big Sur's Installer.

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

In 09c4373d2bc435a925110fed8d6e7696f0578f2f/macports-base (master):

Add hostArchitectures placeholder to Distribution

See: #63096

[jmroot (Joshua Root)]

In 3f19f32204f5b9441844fbb490f5c512c91ccfbc/macports-ports (master):

MacPorts port: set hostArchitectures in Big Sur pkg

Closes: #63096