From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Apr 22 05:42:43 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B41C116A4CE for ; Thu, 22 Apr 2004 05:42:43 -0700 (PDT) Received: from orange.csi.cam.ac.uk (orange.csi.cam.ac.uk [131.111.8.77]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31ACD43D2F for ; Thu, 22 Apr 2004 05:42:43 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from rtb27@cam.ac.uk) Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=rtb27.robinson.cam.ac.uk) by orange.csi.cam.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 4.12) id 1BGdXN-00044m-00 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:42:41 +0100 From: Richard Bradley To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 13:41:17 +0100 User-Agent: KMail/1.5.4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200404221341.17612.rtb27@cam.ac.uk> Subject: Keeping Ports synchronised with Packages X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:42:43 -0000 Hi all, I am getting the impression that I am using the ports and packages system the wrong way, but can't find a good tutorial on how to use them to their best. I would be quite happy to write one up, but I need to understand it first! My problem is that my ports tree is always a couple of minor versions ahead of the available packages. (I use `cvsup /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile` as suggested in the handbook) If I add a program with e.g. #portinstall gaim it compiles it from source, and updates a load of libraries and dependent ports to the current versions. This means I have a load of libraries that are different versions to those the precompiled packages expect, and some packages even refuse to install. I end up having to install more and more things from the ports, which is slooow (do you have any idea how long it takes to compile kde?) and creates even more problems if I try to use a package. What am I doing wrong? Is there a way to hold back cvsup to the same version as the packages on FreeBSD.org? On a related note, where do the errors from sysinstall go? It refers to the "debug screen" but I can't find it on any terminal. What about if you run it in a konsole or xterm? Any pointers would be much appreciated. All the best, Rich