Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 20:38:10 EDT From: "John Daniels" <jmd526@hotmail.com> To: msmith@freebsd.org Cc: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Subject: wordperfect port Message-ID: <20000501003810.55277.qmail@hotmail.com>
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Hi: Please include an explanation on how to download the GUILG00.GZ file in the README or Makefile for Wordperfect. I spent several hours trying to get this right. I went to www.corel.com downloaded files (using Netscape) from Cnet and linuxberg (the only two options) several times. I looked on the freebsd website for port information and found a link to (under the "sources" link for the port): ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/distfiles/GUILG00.GZ but this link doesn't work, and I couldn't find the GUILG00.GZ file on freebsd's (now ftp.freesoftware.com?) website. I searched the mailing lists and found that others have had problems with the port, and it seemed that several were using the instructions for installing under Linux instead of the port. In any case, it was disappointing that although problems had been recognized, they were ignored or not brought to the attention of the ports team (I suspect the latter). So, here is a summary of the problems as I understand them: 1) there is no GUILG00.GZ file on the freebsd.org website, probably due to the requirement that the user accept the license agreement before download. 2) Netscape does not download the binary image file correctly, resulting in checksum/MD5 errors. I tried right clicking on links to open/download the link in binary format, as recommended by a mailing list post, but Netscape (4.72 linux version) never gave me the binary download option. 3) The GUILG00.GZ file is actually a tar file, not a tar.gz file and the port expects this. 4) The linuxberg mirror sites download a file named WordPerfect which actually *is* gizziped so it is not suitable for use with the port (see #3) 5) To get a graphical install you must install using an xterm (ie. you must have xwindows running) 6) I installed linux emulation when I installed FreeBSD 4.0-RELEASE, but some in the mailing lists have noted that a user may need to type the command "linux" to enable their linux emulation. Finally I had to use ftp to retrieve the GUILG00.GZ file. This was remarkably easy, given the difficulties that I had had: $ ftp ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/simtelnet/cnet/win95/business/GUILG/GUILG00.GZ I learned #2 - #6 and a recommendation to use ftp from the mailing list but only after several hours of trying on my own and searching the mailing list 2 or three times. And I got the ftp address from the Cnet download site (it appears when the cursor is moved over the "ftp.cdrom.com" text). Recently I have seen some emails on freebsd-ports complaining about a number of "broken ports." It seems to me that if a port requires user interaction and that is not fully described in a convenient and proper place, then that port *is* "broken," and 2) if a port is "broken," the ports team needs to be informed, or our *community* is broken. Simply getting help from freebsd-questions without taking some action to fix or improve the port is unacceptable, even if the "action" is just feedback email and the "fix" is just providing more information. John ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-ports" in the body of the message
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