Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 18:52:27 GMT From: James Raynard <fqueries@jraynard.demon.co.uk> To: martin@msp.se Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD/BIND integration? Message-ID: <199606191852.SAA27579@jraynard.demon.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.91.960619110958.566G-100000@enterprise> (message from Martin Fredriksson on Wed, 19 Jun 1996 14:42:33 %2B0200 (MET DST))
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> (3) Is there a technical description of how different "packages" (such as > BIND) are integrated into FreeBSD? Or is this a case of "follow > freebsd-hackers, study the source, and learn by yourself"? Note that I > wouldn't complain about the latter, just want to save time by knowing what to > expect. Basically, yes, although I'm sure it would be well received if someone were to write it up and submit it to the documentation team. 8-) Generally, "packages" (I'm sure there's a better word but I can't think of it now) get added or updated if there's some new functionality or bug-fix that's needed, or even just because the existing one was looking rather stale. FreeBSD is generally rather conservative about this and things aren't added or upgraded unless they've been around for a while and the bugs have been eliminated (or at least identified and worked round). Actually integrating the code requires getting it to compile and work under FreeBSD, obviously, but it also has to fit smoothly into the FreeBSD way of doing things. This can mean anything from editing an install target (so that the various parts go in the "right" places) to having to completely re-write all the makefiles in a package to get them to work at all with Berkeley make. One of the best things about FreeBSD is that you can re-compile the whole system just by typing 'make world', but an awful lot of blood, sweat and tears went into getting it that way (particularly for things like the GNU programs which were designed with a quite different paradigm in mind). BTW if you're interested in this kind of thing, freebsd-current is worth keeping an eye on as well. -- James Raynard, Edinburgh, Scotland james@jraynard.demon.co.uk
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199606191852.SAA27579>