Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 20:53:24 +0200 From: Mel <fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: /usr/ports & portupgrade when only using packages Message-ID: <200709052053.24538.fbsd.questions@rachie.is-a-geek.net> In-Reply-To: <46DECE7F.3000909@fid4.com> References: <46DECE7F.3000909@fid4.com>
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On Wednesday 05 September 2007 17:42:55 Michael C. Cambria wrote: > I need to set up a system that can only use packages. I've always used > ports, so I'm not exactly sure if I'm doing things properly. > > Should I (do I need to) use portsnap to populate /usr/ports? Unless I > really need something that doesn't have a pkg available, I will not be > using ports. > > I've always used portupgrade, and plan to do so, using -PP (only > packages) for this setup. My first question is should I? It needs the ports tree to know which packages to *upgrade*. I know of no ports management system that is able to use only binary and no ports tree. If you need to save space, consider mounting /usr/ports via nfs. Now, whether you should use portupgrade...I'm not very positive about it and currently writing my own tools to do just that. I found that portupgrade uses a lot of things it shouldn't need to when in -PP mode (most notably running make all-depends-list before installing a new port and unpacking the entire package just to read it's +CONTENTS file for dependencies). With an ever growing ports tree and the recent Xorg split, adding ~200 new packages to the basic install, I find it to become very slow. If you're going to be using packages you build yourself on a build machine, like I'm doing, you're even in for a bigger surprise, because they are built using the 'packages' target. This target creates plist, which then becomes the packages' +CONTENTS file, on many occasions different from what has been installed on your build machine. You could manage with pkg_add/pkg_delete, but then: 1) *You* have to find out which packages are eligible for upgrading 2) Upgrading a package will mean delete the old version before installing the new one 3) *You* will have to backup libraries manually. (Yes, I realize portupgrade does this) -- Mel People using reply to all on lists, must think I need 2 copies.
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