Why Are You NOT Using FreeBSD?

[Mark Andrews]

In message <7199276.kar7U8DLF4 at x220.ovitrap.com>, Erich writes:
> Hi,
> 
> On 03 June 2012 PM 3:19:14 Doug Barton wrote:
> > On 06/03/2012 05:43, Erich wrote:
> > > it is new to me that Microsoft asks for a Windows update when a new
> > > Office version appears at the scene.
> > 
> > Actually it's very common for Windows applications to specify a minimum
> > OS service pack level. To stretch the analogy a bit, you're also not
> > going to find any modern Windows application that will run on Windows
> > 98, for example.
> > 
> can you still install the ports tree and its applications on a FreeBSD 4.4?

The ports system was deliberately broken once support for FreeBSD
4.x was dropped.  You need a more up-to-date make than that which
ships with FreeBSD 4.x and some other tools to be upgraded all of
which were in FreeBSD 5.x.

If someone had added a compatible make to ports and a couple of
other tools used by the ports sub-system itself, those that wanted
to continue using FreeBSD 4.x with ports could of.  Instead the
whole ports framework was updated to use incompatible Makefiles and
tools without providing the necessary tools.  It's not like make
from FreeBSD 5.x or even FreeBSD 8.x doesn't compile on FreeBSD
4.x.

Mark
-- 
Mark Andrews, ISC
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: marka at isc.org