Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 01:24:54 -0400 From: Brandon Fosdick <bfoz@glue.umd.edu> To: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> Cc: meshko@cs.brandeis.edu, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: ports/11093: remind user that he needs to be root to install port Message-ID: <371183A6.A7EB2B52@glue.umd.edu> References: <19990412032503.1B6DC153BE@hub.freebsd.org> <19990412133835.55410@welearn.com.au>
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Sue Blake wrote: > > On Sun, Apr 11, 1999 at 08:25:03PM -0700, meshko@cs.brandeis.edu wrote: > > > Well, may be the problem is with me (most likely) but still i think > > somebody must have had the same problem... > > I've been using ports collection for two years now (so I am not > > total newbie) and I think it's great, but I always repeat the same > > mistake -- I cd /usr/ports/whatever and try to make forgetting to su. > > The problem is that make starts fine and connects to ftp site and starts > > download when it finally notices that it can't create the local file! > > First of all with slow connection it takes some time before I find out > > that I screwed up. But what is even worth it actually took me some time > > to figure out what does this permission denied message mean. I thought > > that file is closed on the ftp server! (yes, yes, very dumb, thank you) > > Well, anyway I guess it would be nice to have makefile check if user > > have access to ports directory and report error clearly... > > thanks for your time > > I can identify with your problem, but I think this is a documentation > problem not a ports problem. > > What documentation did you read to learn how to install a port? > Maybe we can fix it so that it's clearer in future. > I do this all the time too. The documentation needs a little help in this area since it's not explicitly stated that you need to be root. (BTW, I like the handbook's new look) But I also think that a simple check very early on in the make process would help things immensely. At the very least it would help us forgetful types. Just make sure that the error message is very clear, something like, "You forgot to su dummy!". :) -Brandon -- bfoz@starfleet.umd.edu "In life there are those who steer, and those who push" "I'm not impatient, the world is too slow" "Life is short, so have fun, play hard, and leave a good looking corpse" To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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