From owner-freebsd-questions Sun Nov 29 21:50:44 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id VAA20268 for freebsd-questions-outgoing; Sun, 29 Nov 1998 21:50:44 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from allegro.lemis.com (allegro.lemis.com [192.109.197.134]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA20251 for ; Sun, 29 Nov 1998 21:50:40 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from grog@freebie.lemis.com) Received: from freebie.lemis.com (freebie.lemis.com [192.109.197.137]) by allegro.lemis.com (8.9.1/8.9.0) with ESMTP id QAA09841; Mon, 30 Nov 1998 16:20:18 +1030 (CST) Received: (from grog@localhost) by freebie.lemis.com (8.9.1/8.9.0) id QAA01259; Mon, 30 Nov 1998 16:19:57 +1030 (CST) Message-ID: <19981130161957.Y431@freebie.lemis.com> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 16:19:57 +1030 From: Greg Lehey To: cjclark@home.com, FreeBSD Questions Subject: Re: Appropriate Forum for Bug/Upgrade References: <199811300544.AAA01061@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.91.1i In-Reply-To: <199811300544.AAA01061@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>; from Crist J. Clark on Mon, Nov 30, 1998 at 12:44:56AM -0500 WWW-Home-Page: http://www.lemis.com/~grog Organization: LEMIS, PO Box 460, Echunga SA 5153, Australia Phone: +61-8-8388-8286 Fax: +61-8-8388-8725 Mobile: +61-41-739-7062 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Monday, 30 November 1998 at 0:44:56 -0500, Crist J. Clark wrote: > What would be the best place to point out a potential upgrade idea for > the ports mechanism? That would be FreeBSD-ports. But read on. > The problem is a borderline between a bug and a > absent feature. I think all I'm asking is for the re-wording of an > error message. > > The "Problem:" I was just trying to download StarOffice to check it > out when I got the following: > >> make >>> StarOffice31-common.tar.gz doesn't seem to exist on this system. >>> Attempting to fetch from ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/staroffice/. > fetch: StarOffice31-common.tar.gz: Permission denied >>> Attempting to fetch from ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/distfiles//. > fetch: StarOffice31-common.tar.gz: Permission denied >>> Couldn't fetch it - please try to retrieve this >>> port manually into /usr/ports/distfiles/ and try again. > *** Error code 1 > > Stop. > *** Error code 1 > > Stop. > *** Error code 1 > > Stop. > > Now, my first instinct was that the 'Permission denied' messages were > coming from the ftp sites. However, after looking at the sites, I > realized it wasn't the problem. When I did try to download them > manually, I figured out the problem: I hadn't su'ed to root. (Doh!) I > must admit that this was not the first time I made this mistake either. > > I think that problem could be more clearly indicated to the user. The > 'Permission denied' could mention that the permission problem was > writing on the /users/ machine, not the ftp site. Also, what's the > point of trying to download it twice? If it didn't work the first > time, it ain't gonna work the second. I suppose there's some value in this. It's not a ports issue, though, it's a misfeature in fetch. ftp will tell you, for example, that you don't have create permission in the local directory. Try sending in a PR. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message