Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:59:38 +0300 From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: Graham Bentley <admin@cpcnw.co.uk> Cc: Roland Smith <rsmith@xs4all.nl>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Starting again from Scratch Message-ID: <20070626175937.GB1284@kobe.laptop> In-Reply-To: <20070625182711.5798a588@3bsd.cpcnw.co.uk> References: <20070625120019.668D416A49A@hub.freebsd.org> <20070625151858.20ee23ad@3bsd.cpcnw.co.uk> <20070625160844.GB28294@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20070625175144.6f145b7f@3bsd.cpcnw.co.uk> <20070625171659.GA30692@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20070625182711.5798a588@3bsd.cpcnw.co.uk>
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On 2007-06-25 18:27, Graham Bentley <admin@cpcnw.co.uk> wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:16:59 +0200
> Roland Smith <rsmith@xs4all.nl> wrote:
> > The base system and ports are separate. The base system is built
> > from /usr/src, while ports are built under /usr/ports.
> >
> > Concerning ports, I would install them from an _updated_ ports tree
> > if your system isn't too slow. Start with what you really need, and
> > add things if you miss them. If you build a high-level port like
> > e.g. firefox, it will built the stuff it requires automatically. But
> > I would start with building the xorg meta-port, to get X sorted
> > first.
>
> Is it considered OK to update the ports and build up your worktop
> *without* bothering with building world? Also, building a kernel
> but leaving world at release?
Yes. The latest ports tree should work fine for the supported release
branches of FreeBSD. There are ports which may be broken for versions
of FreeBSD which are too old (i.e. 3.X at this point), but in general
if you stick with one of the supported branches, you should be fine.
> Can you clue me up on xorg 'meta-port' ???
The ports which are called 'meta-ports' don't really have sources of
their own, but they have a list of dependencies which pulls in a set of
tools, libraries or other programs. The /usr/ports/x11/xorg port is one
of these 'meta-ports'. It doesn't really have anything to 'build', as
can be seen by the NO_BUILD=yes assignment of its 'Makefile':
$ cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
$ grep NO_BUILD Makefile
NO_BUILD= yes
$
But if you try to install this port, it will pull in lots of other ports
as 'runtime dependencies'. This way, by asking the Ports Collection to
install x11/xorg for you, you essentially end up with a full install of
all the ports needed for a very basic X11 desktop.
- Giorgos
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