Documenting ports options (was Re: Why Are You NOT Using FreeBSD ?)

[Daniel Kalchev]

On Jun 12, 2012, at 2:41 AM, grenville armitage wrote:

> 
> 
>> Rainer Duffner<rainer at ultra-secure.de>  writes:
> 	[..]
>>> Personally, I don't need more frequent FreeBSD-releases but two or
>>> maybe three ports-tree freezes per year would be good.
> 
> Perhaps not so much freezes per se, but if there are particular
> dates at which the ports tree is known to compile properly (for
> some preferred definition of 'properly') those dates could be
> kept in a list somewhere, for people to use with the cvsup
> "date=" option?


I believe the reason this is not happening is that there is no date, when the ports tree does build all ports "just fine". Some of the ports are not compilable if you compile other ports, or select certain options in other ports as well.

For example, you might have a date, when KDE4 compiles and runs, just fine. But at the same date, you cannot say the same for say Gnome, or science/meep (random pick).

It is of course "doable". The reason nobody is doing it is because by the time you have "stable ports tree" lots of software in there and more importantly most of the mainstream software in there that sees active development is already out of date and sometimes with unattached security problems.

There is a fundamental misconception of what the ports tree is. This is not the "ready made" software, where you just user portmaster/portinstall to add new software or you go to the port's directory and type "make install".

The ports tree is a collection of instructions how to build foreign to FreeBSD software, plus the necessary infrastructure and few "common sense" options and that is it. If you view it any other way, you are in trouble.

The "pick and install software" functionality does not really exist in FreeBSD. The closest is to use packages and yet closer is the packaging system found in PC-BSD that uses the Apple style "fat app" approach.

It is more appropriate to view FreeBSD and ports as the tools to build your own "OS" (in the sense that most people understand it) with functionality, tuning and packages you need.

Of course, the ports system can be improved and is in fact, all the time.

Daniel