RE: FreeBSD15.0 stable pkgbase

Manfred Koch <md-koch_at_t-online.de> wrote on
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025 13:04:47 UTC :

> I have round about 450 packages installed (without so called FreeBSD- 
> snap files)
> Then I typed the command pkg install -r FreeBSD-base -g 'FreeBSD-*'
> and the FreeBSD- snap files were installed.
> pkg info | wc -l shows me now round about 900 installed packaged.
> I did try to get rid of the none snap files with pkg delete -af 
> afterwards the
> all files were deleted, the snap files too. The system was unusable.
> 
> Don't know what the FreeBSD- snap files are.
> Don't know about experimental install.
> Excuse me the stupid asks.
> 
> Can you give me some advices to this subject. How can I remove with "pkg 
> delete" only the right packages.


You do not have to use the FreeBSD-base repository (i.e., the repository
that contains the pkgbase packages, also called base packages) at all:
using pkgbase is not a requirement. The pkgbase packages are one way of
installing and updating FreeBSD --but are not the only way.

FYI: The FreeBSD-*.pkg files from the FreeBSD-base repository are the
pkgbase/base packages for possibly installing/updating FreeBSD.

You may want to also have a file like:

/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSDbase.conf

that contains a line like:

FreeBSD-base: { enabled: no }

(I tried to pick a file name that would not conflict with some other
files that might be automatically put in place yet still be suggestive
of what it is related to. It may not be the best of choices. Hopefully
it would be applied after any others that reference FreeBSD-base .)

If FreeBSD-base is disabled (or not defined) the command:

# pkg repositories -e

will not list FreeBSD-base. Otherise it will. That can provide
a cross check on if it is enabled or not.

("repos" is a unique prefix of "repositories" that can be used
but "repo" is a distinct command.)

The non-pkgbase vs. pkgbase ways of installing and updating FreeBSD
should not be mixed. It is probably best to avoid needing to do a
conversion later. As far as I know, the only official conversion
technique is from non-pkgbase to pkgbase. But you might want to
avoid that for now.

If you use a non-pkgbase FreeBSD installation with FreeBSD-base
disabled ( i.e. enabled: no ) or not defined, things will continue
to work as they did historically. (I suggest avoiding both
"pkg delete -af" and "pkg delete -y -a". I suggest reviewing the
list displayed for "pkg delete -a". Yes, even though the list can
be hundreds of lines long or longer. For a pkgbase FreeBSD
installation with FreeBSD-base enabled (so it shows FreeBSD-*
packages), answering Yes would probably never be the right thing to
do for "pkg delete -a" being involved.)

===
Mark Millard
marklmi at yahoo.com