FreeBSD hacker 101

[KAYVEN RIESE]

On Sun, 27 Jan 2008, Mike Meyer wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:55:53 -0800 (PST) KAYVEN  RIESE <kayve at sfsu.edu> wrote:
>> On Sat, 26 Jan 2008, Mike Meyer wrote:
>>> On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:24:36 -0800 (PST) KAYVEN  RIESE <kayve at sfsu.edu> wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 26 Jan 2008, Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:
>>>>> KAYVEN  RIESE <kayve at sfsu.edu> writes:


>>> thing, it's a fact of line in a multi-platform Unix environment.
>> my reason for bringing the whole thing up was based on the idea
>> that this person might be used to using *.rpm all the time
>
> Well, maybe. But consider the context: they're looking at moving from
> GNU/Linux to FreeBSD, so they're probably familiar with more than one
> GNU/Linux distro, so there's a good chance they'ev seen more than just
> rpms for system software distribution. Further, they're looking at

> noticed that the binaries for other platforms weren't in rpms. Since
> they're programmers, they've probably downloaded source distributions,
> which are almost invariable tarballs of some sort or another.
>
> In other words, the chances that they've only seen rpm file
> distributions would seem to be vanishingly small, so there are things
> that are far more likely to disrupt them - like the difference in


i feel like i have noticed some sites that only have rpms.  this is
more like the type of serious concern that i was concocting in my
own tiny mind.  however, if you simply note that its part of the
linux compatibility packages, then my concern is absolutely
unfounded and i will shut up  {:}


>
> If you feel you have to mention it, then you should really talk about
> the tools, not the formats: GNU/Linux distros tend to use rpm* or apt*
> tools for installing and managing software packages, whereas FreeBSD
> uses the pkg* tools.
>
>> and this
>> would be a difference he would experience moving to
> freeBSD, if
>> this was the case.  if this is not the case for him, as you seem
>> to be implying, then.. well.. still.. he must know to avoid
>> *.rpm distributions in any case unless he installs a *.rpm compatibility
>> tool.  is that part of the linux-compat stuff that freeBSD has?
>
> Just out of curiosity, where do you expect to find software for
> FreeBSD in an rpm format? I don't think they exist, so *avoiding* them
> wont' be a problem. Possibly wasting time looking for them might be,
> but again, that seems really unlikely given the context, so there are
> more important things to suggest they not waste time on, like
> wandering how they upgrade just part of the base system.
>
>     <mike
> -- 
> Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org>		http://www.mired.org/consulting.html
> Independent Network/Unix/Perforce consultant, email for more information.
>

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   Kayven Riese, BSCS, MS (Physiology and Biophysics)
   (415) 902 5513 cellular
   http://kayve.net
   Webmaster http://ChessYoga.org
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