From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Sep 5 12:26:54 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B82E316A509 for ; Wed, 5 Sep 2007 12:26:54 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sonicy@otenet.gr) Received: from kane.otenet.gr (kane.otenet.gr [195.170.0.77]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3F58F13C46C for ; Wed, 5 Sep 2007 12:26:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sonicy@otenet.gr) Received: from freebsdgr.dyndns.org (athedsl-280895.home.otenet.gr [85.73.144.221]) (authenticated bits=0) by kane.otenet.gr (8.13.8/8.13.8/Debian-3) with ESMTP id l85CQpcA003495; Wed, 5 Sep 2007 15:26:51 +0300 Message-ID: <46DEA08B.6060604@otenet.gr> Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:26:51 +0300 From: Manolis Kiagias User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.6 (X11/20070806) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Sur Demir References: <9845.30022.qm@web45208.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <9845.30022.qm@web45208.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: sysinstall, packages, ports q.s X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:26:54 -0000 Sur Demir wrote: > { this is my second attempt to post, first one over Gmane did not > appear in list. Sorry if you get this twice. } > > Hi, > I'm a bit new to FreeBSD, and have few questions challenging my Gentoo > Linux mindset: > > Welcome to the FreeBSD club! May I first suggest you read the handbook: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ I will attempt to give you some quick hints to get you started, but you will find a lot of details for all this stuff in the handbook, and also googling and searching the list archives. > 1. I performed a Minimal 6.2 installation (it boots OK). Then I > selected > Post installation tasks -> Distributions. There I see "base > (required)", > it appears unselected. Does this install anything more than what > Minimal > install did at the first place? > I believe the minimal install just installs the base system. I usually perform a custom installation and select absolutely everything but the Xorg distribution, which has been updated anyway and there is no real reason to install from CD at this point. > 2. I see pkg_add, pkg_delete, pkg_info but no pkg_update. How am I > supposed to keep my system up to date, unless I revert to ports? > There are ways to keep your system updated using binary packages if you prefer. Most people however tend to compile from source (the ports system). I use portupgrade (which you can install from /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portupgrade or portupgrade-devel port), and there is an option in it to use binary packages. I can do something like: portupgrade -PP -a to upgrade all my apps using binary packages. However I much prefer to use ports (except for large apps like openoffice that may - depending on your hardware - take even days to compile). In fact for some ports you may not get a binary package at all, or it may be outdated. Ports always offer the latest version. There are quite a few port management utilities except portupgrade as well. > 3. Minimal install provides a number of commands by default like pkg_*, > portsnap, gcc, ls, vi, etc but pkg_info does not list any of their > packages, which means they're not managed under /var/db/pkg. Then, how > am I supposed to upgrade them without ending up with multiple versions? > That is because you have not installed any packages really! You just have the base system, which is not managed by these utilities. Pkg_info is for third party apps you install from ports (or binary packages). If you need to upgrade the base system there are quite a few options: 1. Run the freebsd-update utility to get your system up to date by downloading binary patches for the main system. You will still be running a -RELEASE version, albeit a patched one (e.g. 6.2-RELEASE-p7). These are mostly security patches. 2. Use csup to get the sources from -STABLE or -CURRENT, compile and install kernel and world. You will get either a STABLE or a CURRENT system. The process is well described in the handbook. If you are a beginner I suggest you stay with the RELEASE (+freebsd-update) version for a while. This is painless (just two commands: freebsd-update fetch followed by freebsd-update install). As an intermediate step, learn how to configure & compile your own custom kernel (it is easier than it sounds, and also well described in the handbook). 3. Upgrade from CD/DVD when a new release is out. > 4. I want to avoid the -CURRENT branch and want to stay with -STABLE > branch for now. The page http://www.freebsd.org/ports/index.html says: > "The Ports Collection supports the latest release on the > FreeBSD-CURRENT > and FreeBSD-STABLE branches." > This not clear to me: If I start using ports, am I on -STABLE or not? > You will be using STABLE only if you use csup to get the sources for the base system, and perform (2) above. It is perfectly valid to install updated ports on a RELEASE system. For this, you will have to update your ports tree using csup. A quick start for this: - copy the file /usr/share/examples/ports-supfile to a convenient place (e.g. /root) - Edit the copied file and change the host line (CHANGE_THIS) to a mirror near you. - Run a command like csup -g -L 2 /root/ports-supfile to upgrade your ports tree Many beginners are confused by the idea that csup (or cvsup) can be used to upgrade both the ports tree (for applications) and the src tree (base system upgrades). Yes, it is the same utility, but you will be using different configuration files. > 5. make.conf is blank by default. Does CPU_TYPE default to i386 in this > case? > > Assuming you installed the 32bit version of FreeBSD, I guess so. Someone else may be able to give you a better answer on this one. > I hope I'm not too confused and sound silly. TIA. > Nope. You are just overwhelmed by information that has not yet settled in your CPU... er I mean mind :) > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________Ready for the edge of your seat? > Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV. > http://tv.yahoo.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > > >