From owner-freebsd-questions Sat Apr 3 15:51:39 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from phoenix.welearn.com.au (phoenix.welearn.com.au [139.130.44.81]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A233914CB0; Sat, 3 Apr 1999 15:51:31 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from sue@phoenix.welearn.com.au) Received: (from sue@localhost) by phoenix.welearn.com.au (8.9.1/8.9.0) id JAA00718; Sun, 4 Apr 1999 09:49:22 +1000 (EST) Message-ID: <19990404094916.32929@welearn.com.au> Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 09:49:16 +1000 From: Sue Blake To: Tony Villasenor Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: how to obtain 'mtools'? References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.88e In-Reply-To: ; from Tony Villasenor on Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 10:25:10AM -0500 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 10:25:10AM -0500, Tony Villasenor wrote: > > I just installed FreeBSD 3.1 and would like to use MTOOLS. > > I have the directory "/usr/ports/emulators/mtools", but > when I type any of the MTOOLS commands (mdir, mcopy,...) > I get the message: Not Found. The files in the ports directory are not the actual program. They're just those files which are used to transform the source code into something that compiles and installs nicely under FreeBSD, without requiring much knowledge or intervention from the person doing the installation. Those who are not still struggling with the basics like the fact that you can customise a port before installing it, while the rest of us are happy for now to get a few characters to type with confidence that it will work. > What steps do I need to take (e.g., get from 3.1 Packages, > compile, etc.) to create the command library? For each piece of additional software you might want to install, you basically have two ways of doing it: 1) Use the "port". This method involves compiling from the source code, after applying any necessary patches and config changes. The FreeBSD ports collection automates this process for you, the "port" being a collection of all the little files that are needed to let the compile happen nicely under FreeBSD for each port. If the source code is not found in the distfiles directory, it will automatically be fetched from its Internet site. You should have very little to do to install a port. See http://www.freeebsd.org/handbook/ports.html or /usr/share/doc/handbook/ports.html for instructions and background info. It's something everyone should read. 2) Use the "package" which is an archive of the pre-compiled binaries and associated files, ready for a quick install. All but a small number of ports are available as packages too. I can't find the instructions in the Handbook or FAQ, but basically it's just cd to the directory where the package (archive) is, after mounting your CD if that's what you're using, and type pkg_add package-file-name where package-file-name is the full name of the file including the ".tgz" at the end. If other packages need to be installed before this program will work, pkg_add will install them for you at the same time if they're not already installed. That's nowhere near the whole story, and there's other ways (for example using sysinstall), but it should at least get you to the point where you know what to read and what to ask freebsd-questions. If you have any questions or comments or corrections to what I've said about how to install packages or ports, please reply to freebsd-questions (and cc: me). If you can recommend another web page where this is documented really well, or have any other comments on the documentation needs of very inexperienced users, please respond to freebsd-newbies. I'll have another look through the Handbook for mention of pkg_add, and if I still can't find it I'll be making noises in freebsd-doc to find out if there is some reason, other than lack of an author, why it isn't there. -- Regards, -*Sue*- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message