Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:53:04 +0800 From: ke han <ke.han@redstarling.com> To: cothrige <cothrige@bellsouth.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Getting started with FreeBSD Message-ID: <BCB72B3C-CD47-440A-9B94-73F64B19BB03@redstarling.com> In-Reply-To: <20061011031055.GA81430@celephais.home.net> References: <20061011031055.GA81430@celephais.home.net>
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Patrick, Since you are already knowledgeable of X-11 apps on slackware, this opinion may not concern you. My opinion of FreeBSD is do not try to configure X-11 desktops and apps with it. Its just too much effort. I have the same opinion of any *nix system that require the user to install/configure their own desktop experience. If you want a good desktop that does provide updates to some apps (firefox included), start with PC-BSD, http://www.pcbsd.org. This is built on FreeBSD 6.x and keeps the base enough as in the FreeBSD.org release so as to enable you a true freebsd system so you can still use ports or packages in addition to PC-BSD's PBI installer....but without the trouble of integrating and maintaining your own desktop experience. enjoy, ke han On Oct 11, 2006, at 11:10 AM, cothrige wrote: > I am a complete newb to BSD trying to get started learning a bit about > how to make my way in it. I have been using Slackware over the last > four years or so, and this has made me a bit used to one way of doing > things and now the FreeBSD way is kind of rattling me. > > For some background, I installed from the FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE discs, > and this is also what I get from uname -r. What I don't understand is > the relationship between ports, packages and security. For instance, > I am currently using firefox 1.5.0.1, which I keep seeing online is > not terribly secure. However, I am confused about what FreeBSD makes > available to update this and other similar packages. I installed > this, > and most of the rest of the system, from the discs via packages, and > hope to keep packages as my main method. I have had some experience > in the past with twenty hour compiles of kdelibs on Gentoo and really > don't want that again but I cannot find any info anywhere on how to > approach updating for security via packages. > > I installed once previously as a test, and in that system followed the > only online information I could find which seemed relevant, and that > was regarding cvsup. I backed up the ports directory and setup a > supfile according the handbook and a couple of examples, and went > ahead and ran it. From there I started checking how things would go > if I ran portupgrade on a couple of apps. I chose the infamous > kdelibs as my sample. When I ran portupgrade -P, just to check > things out and see what I would get, it failed to find a package and > started grabbing the source. No, couldn't do that, so I killed it. > I then tried again with portsnap and got the same result. > > When I looked at the complaint I found that it was looking for what > appeared to be a nonexistent file. I am not sure now, but it was > something like kdelibs-3.5.4 and the server it was searching on, > something which ended in ...packages-6.1-release I think, had only > kdelibs-3.5.1. As a matter of fact, I went through all the > directories I could find online (including 6 and 7 stable, release and > current) and was unable to find the package my system was looking for > in any of them. This failure, and the confusion which ensued, are > what cause me to wonder just how to keep things like the > aforementioned firefox up to date. > > I am now in a situation where I am unsure of what to do as regards > updates, and can really find nothing which clarifies things much > online. Everything I find says to run cvsup and use a supfile > entirely like that which I used before, and that did not work out. > How do I use new, more secure ports and yet still be able to use > binary packages? Is updating ports with cvsup the only way? And if > so, what did I do wrong before? The inability to use binary packages > for giant, though in my case needed, bloatware like kde made me leave > Gentoo behind and I want to know whether that is the only future for > FreeBSD too. I am assuming that since there are binary packages > online for these files they must be usable, I just don't know how to > get to them from tools like portupgrade. Or if that is how you even > try to upgrade a system from packages. I just can't find any really > relevant guides for this type of thing, so I am supposing that > everyone just compiles everything. > > Any help in this is very much appreciated, and sorry if I am > overlooking super obvious information somewhere about this. I > probably am, but I just can't find it. > > Patrick > > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions- > unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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