Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 17:10:57 -0400 From: "Marius Kirschner" <marius@agoron.com> To: <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: Mailman [was: RE: list manager] Message-ID: <008201c244a0$3f963560$5ae9b5ce@quasi1> In-Reply-To: <20020815205607.GA11469@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophi>
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Well, in 98% of the cases I'd agree with you, but there are situations where I'd prefer to do it manually just to have better control and understanding of the software I'm installing. One of the cases that comes to mind was cyrus-imap where I was lost after installing it from the ports. I removed it and did it again manually step by step. ---Marius > -----Original Message----- > From: Matthew Seaman [mailto:m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk] > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 4:56 PM > To: Marius Kirschner > Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG > Subject: Re: Mailman [was: RE: list manager] > > On Thu, Aug 15, 2002 at 03:51:06PM -0400, Marius Kirschner wrote: > > > Thanks to all who replied and recommended Mailman, it does look like > > great product. Now, is it okay to install from the ports or better to > > do it manually? > > The answer to that is always going to be "install from ports". After > all, installing from ports does everything you would do for a manual > install, and then some. The extra stuff you get by using ports is > this: > > i) Automation: all of the chore of finding the source code, > downloading it, verifying the checksum, unpacking, patching, > configuring, compiling and installing can be reduced to a two > word command: make install > > ii) Packaging: the ports system keeps track of exactly what files > get installed, the checksums of those files and where they are > in the file system. This makes it a breeze to diagnose > problems when someone or something manages to munge a crucial > file. It also makes it feasible to delete the whole lot --- > something that is hard to get right if you have to do it > manually. > > iii) Patching: you can exploit the knowlege and experience of > hundreds of taleneted programmers who put a lot of time and > effort into smoothing over the inevitable rough edges and > niggles in even the best software package. They also fix > things that aren't really bugs --- just not the BSD way: such > things as making sure all files are installed under the > specified prefix and not spread all over the filesystem. > > iv) Dependency management: very many software packages rely on the > presence of certain other files or programs on the system in > order to function correctly. The ports system keeps track of > all this dependency information and will automatically install > whatever is required to make your package work. > > v) Security: Remember the incident a few weeks ago when the > openssh source code was replaced with a trojaned version on the > main download sites --- http://www.openssh.org/txt/trojan.adv ? > If you had happened to build openssh from ports during the > timeframe of the incident, you would have been clearly warned > that the md5 checksum on the source code you downloaded was not > what was expected. Because the ports system maintains it's > database of checksums separately from any of the source code > it's almost impossible to trick the ports into building > something unexpected. > > vi) Maintenance: the ports system is continually updated to reflect > the latest developments of thousands of software projects. > With the help of a couple of software packages (easily > installed from ports, of course) you can easily update your > system to reflect those new developments and easily update your > installed ports to the latest versions. > > Persuaded? > > Cheers, > > Matthew > > -- > Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks > Savill Way > Tel: +44 1628 476614 Marlow > Fax: +44 0870 0522645 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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