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Date:      Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:45:54 -0500
From:      Eric <heli@mikestammer.com>
To:        n j <nino80@gmail.com>
Cc:        FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: portmanager or portupgrade?
Message-ID:  <46012902.2010203@mikestammer.com>
In-Reply-To: <92bcbda50703210519j54a297a1g8f076bb6e91646cf@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <92bcbda50703210519j54a297a1g8f076bb6e91646cf@mail.gmail.com>

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n j wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> first off, I'm looking for a ports upgrading solution on my box, not
> trying to start a religious debate over which one is better. I'm
> interested in hearing what other FreeBSD admins are using and, if
> possible, why they prefer one over the other. I have some experience
> with portupgrade only, but I see more and more people talk about
> portmanager, so I thought it would be good to hear what others use.
> 
> On a related note, is portmaster comparable to the previous two?
> 
> Thanks,

i have used them all and I think portmaster is the best of the 3 
choices, at least for my needs/machines.

The author is actively working on it, is helpful, and takes suggestions 
for features which are often incorporated into the program.

It has no dependencies as well, which, to me, is a plus. It is simple to 
use and has a lot of options should they be needed. One really nice 
feature is that all the options for ports are set at the beginning of 
the process. this basically allows you to set your config options up 
front and then let it compile away. In the past one had to watch the 
upgrades happen in case an options screen came up after a port finished. 
if you were AFK for an extended amount of time (or overnight for slower 
machines/big ports) you potentially lost a lot of time. granted you 
could use batch and all that, but pushing all the make options stuff up 
front is a nicety i have come to appreciate.

In the end its all a matter of what you like. Try them all and see what 
one you like for how you manage your boxes.  For me, its portmaster all 
the way. it hasnt let me down yet and I havent seen a need to keep the 
other 2 around once i was familiar with portmaster.

Good luck!

Eric



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