Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 09:32:56 -0500 From: "Vic Abell" <abe@purdue.edu> To: <freebsd-ports@freebsd.org> Cc: "David O'Brien" <obrien@NUXI.com>, "Vic Abell" <abe@purdue.edu> Subject: lsof port Message-ID: <000a01bfe1d6$eaa731e0$aa87d280@vic2.cc.purdue.edu>
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I'm the lsof author. I've just subscribed to this list so I can make a few comments about the lsof port. The first -- and most important -- comment I have is that problems with lsof itself are best handled by sending me private e-mail at <abe@purdue.edu>. As the lsof port packager, David O'Brien, knows, I respond to reports as quickly as I can. But I do have to know about the problems. I caught wind of the 3.5 problem this morning via deja.com even as I was building the official distribution of lsof 4.50. I saw the mailings about 3.5 in time to stop the build and update the lsof distribution materials so they grok FreeBSD 3.5. The second comment is an explanation of why lsof's Configure script requires foreknowledge of UNIX dialect versions, including the recent addition of FreeBSD 3.5. Lsof has an elaborate system of cross configuration (see 00XCONFIG in the lsof distribution) that allows, for example, lsof to be built for FreeBSD 4.0 on a FreeBSD 3.4 system. (The Linux Debian folks use this extensively.) One sanity check lsof's Configure script makes is to compare the declared dialect version target with ones it knows about. A third comment -- lsof runs on 25+ dialects. That's a virtue and a constraint. For those who daily use multiple UNIX dialects, lsof provides a consistent interface everywhere (the virtue). Widespread dialect support means that changes must be considered and implemented across the spectrum, sometimes slowing their release (the constraint). A fourth comment -- I update lsof frequently. Although its release rate has slowed from the former twice a month, the release rate is still high enough in my opinion that packaging lsof with the FreeBSD releases might not be the wisest thing to do. David is so responsive in updating the port package to fetch changes I make to deal with new FreeBSD requirements that I think the port package is sill the best option. One final comment. David makes FreeBSD systems available to me as best he can, but occasionally FreeBSD releases get ahead of that process. (For example, I don't have access to a 3.5 test system yet.) So if you absolutely must have a revision of lsof that supports a version of FreeBSD to which I don't have access, consider providing a test system where I can do the development. Vic Abell, lsof author <abe@purdue.edu> P.S. And remember to mail problem reports to me. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-ports" in the body of the message
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