From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Aug 12 13:10:27 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0DBB516A4CE for ; Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:10:27 +0000 (GMT) Received: from internet.potentialtech.com (h-66-167-251-6.phlapafg.covad.net [66.167.251.6]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D1EC143D4C for ; Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:10:26 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from working.potentialtech.com (pa-plum-cmts1e-68-68-113-64.pittpa.adelphia.net [68.68.113.64]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by internet.potentialtech.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CCEC469A71; Thu, 12 Aug 2004 09:10:25 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 09:10:24 -0400 From: Bill Moran To: GBloomberg Message-Id: <20040812091024.66c4613f.wmoran@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: <28ca269704081203494db73ae5@mail.gmail.com> References: <28ca269704081203494db73ae5@mail.gmail.com> Organization: Potential Technologies X-Mailer: Sylpheed version 0.9.12 (GTK+ 1.2.10; i386-portbld-freebsd4.9) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: make.conf and safe settings X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:10:27 -0000 GBloomberg wrote: > Hello, > > Brand new to FreeBSD. I must say I luv everything so far, especially > how simple everything seemed to go from initial installation to kernel > compilation to a GUI XFCE4 desktop running Firefox. Everything just > works. I like that alot. This is of course is after a few days worth > or reading and research. Well worth the Return On Investment, > considering FreeBSD is Free as well. ;) > > There are a few Key areas that need some attention that man pages and > the FBSD handbook/manual are not helping make any clearer for me. You might take interest in the doc team. You can subscribe to doc@freebsd.org to make suggestions or ask questions about how you can help. Often times, if you come to the doc list and say, "I looked all over and couldn't find docs on X" it will prompt someone to write up some docs on X. > 1) /etc/make.conf > A) If this file doesn't exist what CPU, CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS settings are > used and where(what global file is used if any), when compiling a > package in /usr/ports/? > > B) Is there a link that describes what are considered safe CFLAGS AND > CXXFLAGS settings depending on what type of CPU a person is using, > that a person can use in their "make.conf" file? Right now I have a > PII 300 MHz. > > C) The /etc/make.conf file as well as the settings inside of the > example /etc/defaults/make.conf file are confusing to me. I'm totally > unsure of what settings are safe to use and which are not and what > kind of impact this file has once in place in /etc/? make.conf and the settings available are rather more advanced stuff. If you don't do a lot of compiling and aren't familiar with gcc, you might do well to ignore make.conf until you've got more experience. The default settings are designed to work on most machines, so you shouldn't need to change them. The only reason to change them is if you are trying to supertweak a few percent of additional performance out of your computer. To get an idea of how dicey that can be, search for discussions of use of the -O flag to gcc. If you want to get into it, I would research /etc/defaults/make.conf and the (very extensive) documentation to gcc. -- Bill Moran Potential Technologies http://www.potentialtech.com