From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Mar 31 17:59:53 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5E2A916A401 for ; Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:59:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) Received: from ns1.jnielsen.net (ns1.jnielsen.net [69.55.238.237]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 475BD13C459 for ; Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:59:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) Received: from insp.local (jn@c-76-23-109-98.hsd1.sc.comcast.net [76.23.109.98]) (authenticated bits=0) by ns1.jnielsen.net (8.12.9p2/8.12.9) with ESMTP id l2VHxpbr077155; Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:59:52 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) From: John Nielsen To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:58:45 -0400 User-Agent: KMail/1.9.6 References: <42b497160703302141u617afb24u1b9235bfcd909b45@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <42b497160703302141u617afb24u1b9235bfcd909b45@mail.gmail.com> X-Face: #X5#Y*q>F:]zT!DegL3z5Xo'^MN[$8k\[4^3rN~wm=s=Uw(sW}R?3b^*f1Wu*.<=?utf-8?q?of=5F4NrS=0A=09P*M/9CpxDo!D6?=)IY1w<9B1jB; tBQf[RU-R<,I)e"$q7N7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200703311358.46399.lists@jnielsen.net> X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.88.4, clamav-milter version 0.88.4 on ns1.jnielsen.net X-Virus-Status: Clean Cc: Kimi Ostro Subject: Re: Ports maintainer or adopting a port X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:59:53 -0000 On Saturday 31 March 2007, Kimi Ostro wrote: > Not sure if this is appropriate for this list, basically I am looking > to hear from past, current and future ports maintainers: > > is it fun? I maintain a couple ports. Both were "new" in that they weren't in the ports collection before I submitted them. Both were pieces of software that I wanted to use, and for me the ports system made the actual "porting" much easier than it otherwise would have been. I didn't have to figure out how to use gmake instead of make, didn't have to manually extract the tarball every time I wanted a clean start (just do "make extract" or "make patch" once you have a couple basic lines in the port's makefile). Similarly, once you have a basic packing list you can "make install" and "make deinstall" instead of trying to copy or delete things manually. I think it's a lot of fun as long as you don't bite off more than you can chew. > what are the requirements? (besides time) In the case of software that isn't updated frequently, the requirements are pretty minimal, especially if you aren't doing the initial port. You should try to be proactive in keeping track of updates to the software (or at the very least respond quickly to e-mails to you as the port maintainer). For many programs you don't need to have much if any programming experience, just a willingness to read and understand the Porter's Handbook, and the ability to get your head around make(1) and Makefiles. Obviously programming experience is helpful in cases where things won't build cleanly or weren't written with portability in mind. > what does it mean to you? do you recommend it? I definitely recommend it. One of my favorite things to get in my e-mail is "Commited, thanks!" I second Garrett's two cents about warm fuzzies and community contribution[1], and as a side benefit you get bragging rights which can be useful in the broader open-source community or even with regards to employment or things like discounted web hosting. > best way to get started? what do I need to know about FreeBSD & Ports? Partially covered above; you should be familiar with FreeBSD in general and how and where it is used. Participation in the community (esp. via the mailing lists) is at least as important actually using the OS regularly for real-world activities. To get started just pick something to work on and do it; preferably something that has some utility or importance to you. If you get stuck ask for help (here or on -ports, generally). When you get something that's usable and at least a little polished, send in a PR. The ports team does an awesome job of giving feedback and getting things committed quickly once they're ready. > I am looking at adopting a port or two and looking to gain more > insight, maybe someone that can do projects page for ports? which > holds a list of unmaintained ports?? Others have suggested good ways to identify unmaintained ports. There is also a lot of software out there that's not in the ports tree but easily could be. Sourceforge projects, Perl modules on CPAN, and other websites might be good places to look around and see what's out there. JN [1] I enjoy esr's take on open-source and the gift culture philosophy: http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/homesteading/ar01s06.html