I Can Has Packages?

Polytropon freebsd at edvax.de
Sun Aug 19 19:39:02 UTC 2012


On Sun, 19 Aug 2012 20:33:49 +0200, vermaden wrote:
> HI,
> 
> OpenBSD seems to have packages for everything, even
> for LAME (audio/lame), why FreeBSD can not provide
> package for LAME the same way as OpenBSD does?

j00 CAN haz pakagez. =^_^=

Packages for _everything_ is impossible because of the many
options that may or MAY NOT fit your needs, so things have
to be set at compile time. Just imagine how many different
packages you would have to host for OpenOffice!

In the past, "pkg_add -r de-openoffice" would have given
you a full-featured german version of OpenOffice, even
including a dictionary. Today, it's not that easy anymore.

There are also ports that draw a massive slew of dependencies.
Some of them are of minor importance, like documentation that
urges you to install LaTeX. If that's the default the package
has been created from, installing it will bring teTeX to your
system too, even if _you_ don't need it.

Also consider programs like mplayer that can have a lot of
codecs. Because it's illegal in the U.S. to listen to MP3,
those may not be included. :-)

Okay, you get the idea: There may apply "shipping restrictions".
If I remember correctly, there has been such an issue for lame
in the past, but I thought that it would have been resolved.
When trying "make package", it was not possible, and there
also was not package for use with pkg_add. You _had_ to compile
it yourself because the terms of use told so.

The ports collections has a specific field in Makefile that
gives you information about such issues:

RESTRICTED=     patent issues, see http://www.mp3licensing.com/

So if OpenBSD serves a lame package (I mean a package containing
lame), you should ask them in how far they have an agreement that
allows them to do so, in comparison to what patent issues prohibit
doing the same on FreeBSD.



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...


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