The ports collection has some serious issues

[Thomas Mueller]

>From John Marino and my previous post:

> > I believe you could cd $PORTSDIR/ports-mgmt/synth and
> > make package-recursive |& tee build-12amd64.log (or whatever you want to
> > name the log file; this example if for shell tcsh)?
 
> That installs build dependencies on the system.  That would be no better than
> running portmaster the first time.  If you run the process I suggested, you'll
> end up with a self-hosted machine with no extra stuff installed.


> > For a system with pkgng, is there any difference in package format
> > between "make install", portmaster and portupgrade?

> There shouldn't be, the ports framework is responsible for creating the
> package.

> > If your system already has portmaster, you could portmaster
> > ports-mgmt/synth |& tee synth-12amd64.log?

> > And then switch from portmaster to synth for all further ports
> > builds/updates?

> sure.
> Although it will still be dirty from portmaster so at that point you would
> gather a "prime list" of packages, feed thoughs into synth to create a local
> repository, remove all packages from the system and re-install them with the
> "prime list" and the new local repository.


> > It would not be necessary to start with a clean system for FreeBSD, as
> > opposed to NetBSD, or am I mistaken here?

> No, you can start anytime but I do recommend the procedure above to ensure the
> system is in good shape and doesn't contain unnecessary package installations.

I ran make all-depends-list from $PORTSDIR/ports-mgmt/synth.  Dependencies looked like packages I would need anyway.

I want to try to cross-compile Haiku and Linux toolchains (among other things).

I looked for synth in the online wiki.freebsd.org, found nothing, but did find portupgrade (no portmaster).

If FreeBSD users are to use synth, it needs to be in the documentation. Otherwise FreeBSD users will assume portupgrade or portmaster is the proper way to upgrade ports.

I would have thought there would be an Ada for ther platforms like PowerPC and (Ultra)Sparc.

Tom