Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 12:09:47 -0500 From: Joe Marcus Clarke <marcus@FreeBSD.org> To: FreeBSD GNOME Users <gnome@FreeBSD.org> Subject: The GNOME meta-port Message-ID: <1067879387.817.17.camel@gyros>
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--=-kYqYI9SAfIAXQLxwQGmY Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I wanted to respond to all the mails on this thread with why gnome@ has done what they've done with the GNOME meta-ports. First, and someone already touched on this issue, what is a meta-port?=20 A meta-port is something aimed at newbies to get them up and running with a "something" quickly, out-of-the-box. As these newbies become more acquainted with FreeBSD, they begin to say, "you know, I don't really need package X. Let me uninstall the meta-port, and package X."=20 As they begin to really get the feel of make(1) and the ports system, they may decide, "I'm building this suite a lot, but all I need are packages X, Y, and Z. Let me build a meta-port just for those." Or, "Let me simply install X, Y, and Z." Let's look at a fair example. I don't think it's fair to compare x11/gnome2 to lang/php4 since php4 is a real, working port, and gnome2 is simply a meta-port stub. Also, XFree86, and quakeforge aren't fair comparisons since they only have a few dependencies. I want to look at misc/instant-workstation. This meta-port has 124 dependencies (compared to gnome2's 122), and only one WITH_/WITHOUT_ knob for ghostscript.=20 This meta-port was designed by Greg Lehey to install all the ports he thought makes a good instant workstation. It's quite KDE-centric. But wait, I want my workstation to have GNOME. Greg, can you add a knob for GNOME? Greg will come back and say, "don't install this port. It's not for you." He's right. As an advanced user, I know what I want on my workstation. I want my set of GNOME 2 bits, gaim, rhythmbox, galeon, etc. This meta-port simply represents Greg's opinion, where as gnome2 represents the GNOME desktop as envisioned by gnome.org. My point is that meta-ports are geared more toward newbies. Advanced users can bypass the meta-port, and install only the bits they want.=20 Really advanced users (or admins doing bulk installations) can build their own meta-ports to easy the task of reinstallation. Marcus --=20 Joe Marcus Clarke FreeBSD GNOME Team :: marcus@FreeBSD.org gnome@FreeBSD.org FreeNode / #freebsd-gnome http://www.FreeBSD.org/gnome --=-kYqYI9SAfIAXQLxwQGmY Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQA/povbb2iPiv4Uz4cRAuMEAJ0Q/Fa4BKvSg3iPVlQeuQXHkZRusQCeMERo J4JYI1iTtu5Eb5UQ7ZTYvYc= =W2qj -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-kYqYI9SAfIAXQLxwQGmY--
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