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Date:      Mon, 17 Jan 2000 15:43:16 -0500 (EST)
From:      Chuck Robey <chuckr@picnic.mat.net>
To:        Michael Grant <mgrant@grant.org>
Cc:        ports@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Ports collection for Solaris
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0001171420200.320-100000@picnic.mat.net>
In-Reply-To: <3881D7E3.A090D2@grant.org>

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On Sun, 16 Jan 2000, Michael Grant wrote:

> Well, it was my hopes that most of the changes would be in bsd.port.mk and not
> in the 3000 odd other Makefiles! A lot of things compile untouched on
> Solaris.

That has nothing to do with it.  The various ports DO NOT adapt software
to run on *unix*, they adapt software to run quite specifically on
FreeBSD.  I would bet that a great percentage of the ports WILL need
modification.  The patches will be wrong for Solaris.  Your standard
libraries, for example, are controlled through ports patches (where the
distfile software itself is wrong for FreeBSD) and those locations and
names are very definitely wrong for Solaris.

  Secondly, it would be crazy for any one person to try and maintain
> so many Makefiles!

That's the reason you don't have a Solaris ports collection.  This is *is
being done* for FreeBSD.  If you're looking for a shortcut, it does not
exist.  You *can't* just wave your magic wand once over bsd.port.mk and
get the ports collection to work.  The modifications to bsd.port.mk will
most likely be pretty mild (tool locations, perhaps some tool options).

I think you feel that the reason that no one has done what you think is an
easy job is because no one asked before.  That's not it, it's because
there hasn't been anyone in the *Solaris* camp willing to do the hard work
involved.  It's not rocket science, it's hard work.


> Better to put the infrastructure in place and let the
> owner of each port tweak their Makefile if necessary.

That's not going to happen, because the owner of each port runs FreeBSD,
not Solaris (with small exceptions).  If you can't get the interest among
your fellow Solaris folks, you *aren't* going to get this to happen.  
FreeBSDers certainly aren't going to do it.

That's why I said you're on the wrong list here.  Get a group of Solaris
folks together, and start porting.  Figure out what changes you would need
from FreeBSD's bsd.port.mk* files, and the chances are excellent you could
have them.  That alone might well get 25 percent of the ports
working.  Then, start slogging through the collection, because the ones
you got to work so easily will be those that already compiled fine out of
the box; the rest will need one-by-one attention by your team.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chuck Robey                | Interests include C & Java programming,
New Year's Resolution:  I  | electronics, communications, and
will not sphroxify gullible| signal processing.
people into looking up     | I run picnic.mat.net: FreeBSD-current(i386) and
fictitious words in the    |      jaunt.mat.net : FreeBSD-current(Alpha)|
dictionary.                |
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