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Date:      Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:16:08 -0800 (PST)
From:      Annelise Anderson <andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu>
To:        Zach Barnett <zpb@hotmail.com>
Cc:        questions@FreeBSD.Org
Subject:   Re: Packages and Ports
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.10.10203291502510.17395-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu>
In-Reply-To: <F229O4OPXok84FTA7OI0000cd53@hotmail.com>

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On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Zach Barnett wrote:

> I'm new to Freebsd, and I've been trying to learn about packages and ports.  
>   The manuals I'm using are the "Freebsd Handbook" and "The Complete 
> Freebsd".   Both do an ample job of explaining how to install both items, 
> but I would like a little more "meat" if you will.   Could someone please 
> boil down the differences between the two, how they interrelate, and the 
> pros and cons of each?
> 
Packages and ports are two ways to install the same software.
Packages are already built (for a particular version or release of
FreeBSD).  With ports, you download the source code and it gets 
built on your own computer.

The "ports collection" (in /usr/ports) is the framework or
skeleton for telling the system what software you want.  You cd
to the application you want and type "make install".

For packages you use pkg_add <packagename>.

Once installed, the software is the same, unless you decide to 
alter the default building of the software when you build a port.
Being able to do so is one of the benefits of the ports approach.
Each software application creates a "work" directory where it puts
its files and the output of the build.  It is sometimes useful to
explore this directory if you want to do something special when
building the port.

Also once installed, the software, whether you installed it as a
port or as a package, is listed in /var/db/pkg, the registry of
installed software.  At that point it's all "packages" to FreeBSD.

Packages are good if you don't want to build the software on your
own machine (it may take a long time for a large application) or
you don't have the space to build it.  But in the end the convenience
of the ports collection and the information it provides make it the
first choice of most people.

	Annelise  
 

-- 
Annelise Anderson
Author of: 		 FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC
Available from:	 BSDmall.com and amazon.com
Book Website:    http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/	




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