From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Dec 27 00:11:53 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4707BD7E for ; Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:11:53 +0000 (UTC) Received: from sender1.zohomail.com (sender1.zohomail.com [74.201.84.155]) (using TLSv1 with cipher RC4-SHA (128/128 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 30DF467754 for ; Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:11:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: from workbox.Home (184-100-71-241.mpls.qwest.net [184.100.71.241]) by mx.zohomail.com with SMTPS id 1419639109485524.4008701079596; Fri, 26 Dec 2014 16:11:49 -0800 (PST) Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 18:11:46 -0600 From: Bigby James To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Do I want to switch to the new pkg(8) format? Message-ID: <20141227001146.GA1884@workbox.Home> References: <20141226171618.GA30541@workbox.Home> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.23 (2014-03-12) X-ZohoMailClient: External X-Zoho-Virus-Status: 2 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:11:53 -0000 On 12/26, Warren Block wrote: > > That message is only for folks upgrading a pre-10.0 installation. If you > > installed 10.0 or later, any binary packages you install will use the new > > format. > > As will ports. pkg is not just for binary packages, it is a package > management system and ports use it also. True enough. I usually prefer install and upgrade software from the ports tree, but use 'pkg delete && pkg autoremove' to get rid of unwanted build dependencies and/or software I only installed for testing purposes. Uniting both binary and source software management under a single system is a huge plus in my opinion. The OP mentioned being a Gentoo user, but the current state of package/ports management in FreeBSD is quite similar to that of Arch Linux: software may be installed either via binary packages or built from source code, but both means utilize a shared database and building ports now stores a binary package in a local cache. It seems perfectly sensible to install most software from packages and use the ports system just for build customizations. The only hitch I see is that if you build software from ports and then update your system with 'pkg upgrade,' pkgng will reinstall your customized ports with default settings. There may be a way to avoid this, but either the man page doesn't mention it or I've overlooked it. -- "A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams