From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Tue Dec 8 06:05:13 2015 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A9B899D30A0 for ; Tue, 8 Dec 2015 06:05:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gobble.wa@gmail.com) Received: from mail-vk0-x22a.google.com (mail-vk0-x22a.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:400c:c05::22a]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "Google Internet Authority G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 692AE1D26 for ; Tue, 8 Dec 2015 06:05:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gobble.wa@gmail.com) Received: by vkca188 with SMTP id a188so6084691vkc.0 for ; Mon, 07 Dec 2015 22:05:12 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type; bh=hqba3cKjLqpS9VkJ8WVn36UEH+8VAmt5jKKyTlOBzzA=; b=K7HD+h8MBx+bdJsjF9ISQBocvQIQor8+Y8uuHMeNDTTagMKxzWrmPtMatoBOOUP1Px tUjtz5IizOef/OqUZ23omDkcAm+VS4L64ak4wUL0WKpJbpkLpp304kjCXhBMqbXtqyCJ pF+zTV4EF6peDzG8+6ssUEFLeMmNl6dwiIGfmAFiYc008JiEvXT1CkJT6vL+t7W2Gmyn YDP5+WQfWIoOSukB55POJrEvDCOue9DlwVfh23z94bGVvaJTsN07TZVJ6lUf7aKPl7TI +v6uH9cuN8zPHfKWpII2/tBTbQsdyGy3kZmANRQsx3fK0HDD00nz7cRfrDC83GMVKbHl /M2g== MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.31.169.21 with SMTP id s21mr1868598vke.62.1449554712083; Mon, 07 Dec 2015 22:05:12 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.103.85.141 with HTTP; Mon, 7 Dec 2015 22:05:11 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <20151208062508.31ae2ec2.freebsd@edvax.de> References: <86poyiuynx.fsf@gmail.com> <56659FC8.8020904@FreeBSD.org> <20151208062508.31ae2ec2.freebsd@edvax.de> Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2015 22:05:11 -0800 Message-ID: Subject: Re: Migrating to FreeBSD from Debian From: Waitman Gobble To: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.20 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:05:13 -0000 On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 9:25 PM, Polytropon wrote: > On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 17:10:00 +0200, Anton Sayetsky wrote: > > 2015-12-07 17:03 GMT+02:00 Matthew Seaman : > > > ... and a package is what you get by compiling a port. Yes, there is a > > > difference, but the two things are often conflated and it isn't worth > > > muddying the waters by insisting on exactingly precise terminology from > > > people new to FreeBSD. It is clear enough what they mean -- their aim > > > is to get some software installed or upgraded. > > But we should warn then about not mixing ports & packages. I agree, > > pkg is a good choice [when pkg only]. > > That's not a big deal anymore. If you use the default options > for building a port (like those from which the package would > be generated), no precautions are needed. If you use different > options, for only _few_ ports, use "pkg lock" and "pkg unlock". > If you need to compile many ports and still want to use packages, > check out "poudriere". Ports and packages can co-exist happily. :-) > > > -- > Polytropon > Magdeburg, Germany > Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 > Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to " > freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > The machines I use mostly run FreeBSD-CURRENT or Debian unstable on a mainline Linux system. If you are not so interested in matters regarding license, then the biggest difference you will see is that ports/packages are installed in /usr/local, while the BSD system is in /usr. It's possible to delete /usr/local and start fresh, without botching your system. So we have a system of user software mostly isolated from operating system. Sometimes it's easier to start fresh, especially if you have a system which has not been updated in several months, which can cause seemingly chicken-and-egg kinds of problems. Most software configurations are in your home directory, so it's pretty easy to rebuild and not lose any settings. A Debian system is not configured in such a way, everything is co-mingled, co-related, co-linked (in /usr). Your /usr/local will be completely empty, unless you compile something and intentionally install it there. Additionally, in my opinion, a FreeBSD system is much more 'hackable'. If you take a look at the source code of the kernel and FreeBSD system, it's very well documented, easy to change and fiddle with to suit your needs. and recompile. There have been times when ports and packages were out of sync, the port version might be newer than the available package, and this reason is essentially why it could be problematic to mix ports and packages. In the past this has caused some issues and inconvenience, however in recent years it seems packages are typically in sync with ports tree. -- Waitman Gobble Los Altos California USA 650-900-8557