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Date:      Wed, 31 May 2000 03:38:12 +0200
From:      Farid Hajji <farid.hajji@ob.kamp.net>
To:        questions@FreeBSD.ORG, orders@cdrom.com
Cc:        so@server.i-clue.de
Subject:   Re: Missing FreeBSD-4.0 Distfiles on CDROM
Message-ID:  <200005310138.e4V1cB013494@mail-ob.kamp.net>
In-Reply-To: <393434B5.4C4D599B@i-clue.de> (message from Christoph Sold on Tue, 30 May 2000 23:37:57 %2B0200)
References:  <200005302044.e4UKih005571@mail-ob.kamp.net> <393434B5.4C4D599B@i-clue.de>

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Hello,

> > I've just bought a FreeBSD 4.0-RELEASE (March 2000) CD-ROM Set
> > and was _very_ disappointed, as I couldn't find any distfiles
> > (sources), that go with /usr/ports! In previous releases (3.4-RELEASE
> > and earlier), most distfiles were present on the CD Set. Are we
> > now supposed to download package-sources directly off the 'Net?
> Unfortunately: Yes and No. Due to space restrictions, distfiles dropped
> off the 4.0-R-CD-ROMs (to make room for a lot more packages).

> > Are the distfiles for the 4.0-RELEASE ports available on CD-ROM
> > at all? (Which CD-ROM and where please?)
> FreeBSD-Toolkit, still to be produced, AFAIK.
Okay, I'll just order it now, but let's hope that there will be soon another
way to get the distfiles on the regular cd-rom set. After all, FreeBSD's
policy has always been to come with full sources, and that includes IMHO
the sources of the packages too (as far as possible due to copyright
restrictions). Considering the excellent nature of the /usr/ports system,
it would have probably been much better to include the distfiles of all
ports on the cd-roms, plus some binary packages that are extremely popular.
sysinstall could have been expanded, so that (less requested) packages
can be compiled from the distfiles. Isn't it always better to provide
sources and an (automatic) way to compile them, than just binaries
_w/o_ sources?

> > Thank you for your help.
> You're welcome. Yes, I'm missing the distfiles, too. Modems at home are
> not helpful for getting distfiles, remote locations don't help, too.
> Maybe BSDi thinks about another scheme to get the distfiles to the
> people.
Yes, that's the way I see it too. The main reason for buying the CD-ROMs
is (besides helping WalnutCreek a.k.a. BSDI) saving the bandwidth and
time required to fetch sources via modems. BSDI should really find a way
to include the distfiles on the regular -RELEASE (and maybe -SNAP) CDs
(be it by moving to a 6 CD-Case or replacing less used packages into
distfiles, that can be compiled via sysinstall or manually from /usr/ports)!

Maybe other subscribers could write independently to BSDI, to help them
make their mind to distribute the distfiles along with the regular CDs.
Even users with enough bandwidth can help keeping FreeBSD and associated
software free.

> -Christoph Sold

Thank you very much to all who answered.

-Farid.

-- 
Farid Hajji
Broicherdorfstr. 83, D-41564 Kaarst, Germany
Phone: +49-2131-67-555, E-Mail: farid.hajji@ob.kamp.net


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