From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Jul 25 6:20:36 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from web12808.mail.yahoo.com (web12808.mail.yahoo.com [216.136.174.43]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with SMTP id ADED037B401 for ; Wed, 25 Jul 2001 06:20:27 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from zaunere@yahoo.com) Message-ID: <20010725132027.46048.qmail@web12808.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [128.122.155.151] by web12808.mail.yahoo.com; Wed, 25 Jul 2001 06:20:27 PDT Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 06:20:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Hans Zaunere Subject: Re: Patches Question To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org In-Reply-To: <20010725085538.B13342@acadia.ne.mediaone.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Well specifically I am referring to the ports collection. Whenever I do a make install for a port, there is always a section saying something along the lines of "Getting FreeBSD Patches." I am wondering what these consist of, since I seldom see neseccary patches for other systems, except for those that the vendor/developer specifically says should be installed. When I make install a port and it does its magic, where do these patches come from? Vendor? FreeBSD project? Third-party? These patches do seem to be FreeBSD specific, and I am wondering what kinds of technical issues they are patching. Memory? Networking? Differences between FreeBSD's architecture and a SysV based system? etc.. Thank you, Hans --- Louis LeBlanc wrote: > I doubt those patches are strictly intended to make > the app run on > FreeBSD, or that the app otherwise wouldn't run on > FreeBSD. Many > applications have patches associated with them, on > all OSs. If you > download a source rpm for Linux, you will often find > patch files > included therein. > > Usually these patches are intended as minor tweaks > to the apps > stability, or as a fix for an obscure bug that > sneaked into the > release tarball. > > As for the rare occasion that a patch is directed at > a particular OS, > this is often because the app was originally > designed and implemented > on another platform, and someone else wrote the > patch to make it work > on theirs. Other times, an inherent instability in > the original code > only becomes apparent when it is ported to a new OS. > > From time to time, a patch may be written by another > person to add > functionality to an application - like the nntp > patches for mutt. > This is often done when an original developer sticks > to the Unix > mindset (a tool should do ONE thing and do it well), > but some users > want to make an exception for a favorite tool or in > a unique > application of that tool. > > In the end, though, it isn't the os that makes the > patches necessary, > it is the app, and the inevitable imperfections in > the design, > implementation, etc. (We're only human after all :) > > HTH > > Lou > > On 07/25/01 05:33 AM, Hans Zaunere sat at the `puter > and typed: > > I notice that a lot of applications need to be > patched > > to work on FreeBSD correctly. I am wondering, > from a > > strictly technical standpoint, what these patches > are > > for. How are they common? What is it about > FreeBSD > > that makes these patches neseccary? > > > > Thank you, > > > > Hans Z > > zaunere@yahoo.com > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute > with Yahoo! Messenger > > http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body > of the message > > > > -- > Louis LeBlanc leblanc@acadia.ne.mediaone.net > Fully Funded Hobbyist, KeySlapper Extrordinaire :) > http://acadia.ne.mediaone.net ԿԬ > > revolutionary, adj.: > Repackaged. > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of > the message __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message