From owner-freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Mar 22 18:50:05 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [8.8.178.115]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D5C1F364 for ; Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:50:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: from smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu (wmauth4.doit.wisc.edu [144.92.197.145]) (using TLSv1 with cipher RC4-MD5 (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A04A0B40 for ; Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:50:05 +0000 (UTC) MIME-version: 1.0 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; format=flowed Received: from avs-daemon.smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu by smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu (Oracle Communications Messaging Server 7u4-27.01(7.0.4.27.0) 64bit (built Aug 30 2012)) id <0N2U00400PGLYO00@smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu> for freebsd-ports@freebsd.org; Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:50:03 -0500 (CDT) X-Spam-PmxInfo: Server=avs-4, Version=6.0.3.2322014, Antispam-Engine: 2.7.2.2107409, Antispam-Data: 2014.3.22.184214, SenderIP=0.0.0.0 X-Spam-Report: AuthenticatedSender=yes, SenderIP=0.0.0.0 Received: from comporellon.tachypleus.net (75-101-50-44.dsl.static.sonic.net [75.101.50.44]) by smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu (Oracle Communications Messaging Server 7u4-27.01(7.0.4.27.0) 64bit (built Aug 30 2012)) with ESMTPSA id <0N2U0052DPNED600@smtpauth4.wiscmail.wisc.edu> for freebsd-ports@freebsd.org; Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:50:03 -0500 (CDT) Message-id: <532DDB5A.8090205@freebsd.org> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 11:50:02 -0700 From: Nathan Whitehorn User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; FreeBSD amd64; rv:24.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/24.3.0 To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Subject: Re: reason 23 why we've moved to linux References: <53287821.4040209@freebsd.org> <5328A03A.3000305@freebsd.org> In-reply-to: X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.17 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:50:05 -0000 On 03/22/14 11:12, Randy Bush wrote: > from another team member, also a long time freebsd user of decades > > firefox build bombs because something has hardwired gcc47, which is > not installed, so firefox's ./configure bombs testing hello world. > > Attempting to figure out what has hardwired gcc47 quickly leads down > an entire separate /usr/ports/Mk/ file full of the usual garbage, none > of which actually says gcc47. Presumably it is somehow inheriting > from /usr/ports/lang/gcc's version (as opposed to > /usr/port/lang/gcc4[69] -- this machine happens to have gcc46 > installed). > > This is as far as I got before giving up in disgust. Maybe they'll > sort it out by the time I care. Or maybe I'll wipe and Ubuntu. > > essentially, from a user perspective, the ports have become kiddieville, > with no testing or seeming adult supervision. if you're just trying to > get your work done, freebsd ports have become toxic. > > randy > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-ports@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-ports > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-ports-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > This is actually a serious problem, not just for Randy, but for many people. I've stopped updating machines because it is impossible to trust that ports actually works -- and has been impossible to do so for a year now. I realize that a lot of feature changes have been required for modernization (staging, for example), but the pace has been relentless enough that things just don't work the majority of the time. Ports used to be one of FreeBSD's great strengths -- now it is driving people away. This is not anecdotal and not a limited problem. At least testing branches would be appreciated. -Nathan