Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 20:48:59 -0600 (CST) From: Conrad Sabatier <conrads@home.com> To: andu <undo@cloud9.net> Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: RE: adding packages Message-ID: <XFMail.000225204859.conrads@home.com> In-Reply-To: <l03130301b4dc4afc796a@[10.0.0.4]>
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On 25-Feb-00 andu wrote: > I'm using FBSD 3.3. The other day I wanted to get gnome gedit and 2 > other packages via sysinstall/ftp.freebsd.org and besides the ones I > needed I also got a whole bunch of libraries and so as dependences which > I must have already installed originally. Although the directory was > 3.3 these packages must be newer then the ones I installed from the cd > which is fine. > The questions I have are: a) if all packages in 3.3 directory are > "current" including the kernel, and b) are the original libraries and > stuff *replaced* by the new ones or I end up with 2 versions of the same. > Also is there support for usb keyboard and mouse in 3.3 kernel? Using /stand/sysinstall and/or pkg_add are a good way to quickly get the additional software packages you want installed after a fresh install of FreeBSD. However, more experienced users generally favor using the ports collection for the added flexibility and control it provides. There are some cases where you will, in fact, end up with more than one version of a set of libraries installed on your system. This is especially likely to occur if you continue adding new packages or new versions of existing packages without first removing the older ones. Unlike Windows, for example, where new apps are constantly overwriting older DLLs and such, leading to all sorts of trouble, in FreeBSD, libraries are named with their version numbers, so it's quite possible for multiple versions of a library to peacefully co-exist on the same system. While this won't do any real harm (the older packages will just continue to use the older libraries, while the newer packages will use the newer ones), it can lead to a lot of unnecessary clutter and wasted disk space. The general rule of thumb is that installing new packages will *not* remove the old ones, although some files in a particular package may have the same name in both versions, causing the new package to overwrite parts of the older one. So it's usually best to remove the old version of a package before installing a new version. As to your question as to whether the packages in the 3.3 directory (I presume you're talking about the ftp sites) are "current", the answer is "yes and no". :-) We have to be careful about using the word "current" here, as this term is also used to refer to the absolute latest, cutting edge version of FreeBSD, which most newbies will definitely *not* want to use. You seem to be slightly confused, also, about the kernel. Unlike Linux, where people talk about which kernel version they're running, we here in FreeBSD-land take a rather different approach. When you upgrade your version of FreeBSD, you don't just upgrade the kernel alone; you upgrade the entire system as well. This has the major benefit of avoiding the types of problems Linux users see so often, where a new kernel causes problems with existing user (system) programs. So then, to answer your question, the "kernel" under any particular RELEASE directory is "current" FOR THAT RELEASE ONLY. The packages under any particular RELEASE directory may be considered "current" in the sense of being the latest ported versions of those packages AT THE TIME OF THE PARTICULAR RELEASE. In addition, there are also the STABLE and CURRENT packages (are you getting confused yet?). :-) The STABLE packages are the latest versions of the packages for the STABLE branch of FreeBSD (basically, the last RELEASE version with whatever additional modifications have been made since then), while the CURRENT packages are specifically for the CURRENT branch, and should NOT be used if you're running anything less than FreeBSD-CURRENT, as there are often significant differences in low-level system stuff that will cause them to fail. The STABLE and CURRENT packages, rather than being "frozen" like the RELEASE packages, are constantly being updated as well, just like their respective branches. Again, once you're comfortable finding your way around your system, you would do well to look into using the ports collection in combination with cvsup to keep your local ports tree up to date. I update mine nightly, so whenever I'm looking to add a new package, I always have the latest Makefiles and patches, ready to build and install. See the handbook for all the details. Not sure about the USB stuff; my system doesn't have a USB port, so I've never had the need to look into it. I'm fairly certain there's USB support in CURRENT, but possiblly not in any 3.x version. Hope this helps. :-) -- Conrad Sabatier http://members.home.net/conrads/ ICQ# 1147270 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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