Question about packages installed via `pkg_add -r`

[Yue Wu]

On Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 08:46:47PM -0500, illoai at gmail.com wrote:
> On 5 March 2011 20:14, Yue Wu <vanopen at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 08:02:47PM -0500, illoai at gmail.com wrote:
> >> On 5 March 2011 20:00, Yue Wu <vanopen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Hello, sorry for poor English, I will try to explan clearer with my
> >> > best.
> >> >
> >> > On Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 04:48:17PM +0100, Greg Byshenk wrote:
> >> >> On Sat, Mar 05, 2011 at 11:04:36PM +0800, Yue Wu wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> > I'm trying to use package instead of ports these day, but a few
> >> >> > questions have:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > 1. How to reserve packages that fetched via `pkg_add -r`?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > 2. How to know if there are updates for packages, and how to update?
> >> >>
> >> >> For (1), do you mean 'preserve', as in save a copy?  If so, then
> >> >> 'portmaster -b [...]' will save a backup copy of installed packages.
> >> >
> >> > Yes, I mean 'preserve'. I've maned portmaster, seems -b is for a
> >> > installed package, so it will preserve it by packing up the files from a
> >> > installed package, why not preserve it just when fetching with `pkg_add
> >> > -r`? I think it's the best way, I don't like the portmaster way to do it
> >> > after.
> >>
> >> from man 1 pkg_add:
> >>
> >>      -K, --keep
> >>              Keep any downloaded package in PKGDIR if it is defined or in cur-
> >>              rent directory by default.
> >>
> >
> > Thanks, sorry for no attentively reading ;p
> >
> > Another question arises after checking the pkg 'pkg_add' saves, why the
> > pkg doesn't have a version appended to its name, it's hard to know the
> > version the pkg downloaded...
> 
> Without digging in too deeply (I use ports, so I'm not the
> _most_ knowledgeable on packages) I believe it has to
> do with the fact that the packages are symlinked to non-
> versioned names on the distribution server(s), probably
> to simplify fetching.  The packages themselves should
> have the version information in their metadata somewhere,
> which might be possible to rename via script.
> 
> I apologise if that isn't helpful.

Thank you for info, I got the reason :)

ports with portmaster makes pkg installation mangement be much more
flexiable and more friendly than package by pkg_add -r on FreeBSD,
except that ports take much more time and resource. After trying with
packages, I think I have to stick to ports.

-- 
Regards,
Yue Wu

Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine
China Pharmaceutical University
No.24, Tongjia Xiang Street, Nanjing 210009, China