Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:58:04 +0200 From: Nikola Lecic <nlecic@EUnet.yu> To: Bram Moolenaar <Bram@moolenaar.net> Cc: Mark Linimon <linimon@lonesome.com>, freebsd-x11@FreeBSD.org, Kennaway <kris@obsecurity.org>, Kris Subject: Re: Avoiding upgrade to xorg 7.2 Message-ID: <200706132257.l5DMvrfO028558@smtpclu-5.eunet.yu> In-Reply-To: <200706132123.l5DLN1hr010280@moolenaar.net> References: <20070613201010.GA1002@soaustin.net> <200706132123.l5DLN1hr010280@moolenaar.net>
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On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:23:01 +0200
Bram Moolenaar <Bram@moolenaar.net> wrote:
> [...]
> My problem is that for people who don't know exactly how the ports
> system works and don't keep track of messages in CVS logs or maillists
> it has become very difficult to use the ports system. It's almost as
> if it's only for a small group of people who keep their secrets away
> from casual users. I know this isn't so, but that's what it looks
> like from the outside.
>
> My main complaint is that the dependencies are not working properly.
> So I have xorg 6.9. If I upgrade some port that works just fine with
> xorg 6.9 there should not be a dependency on xorg 7.2. This is a
> generic problem with the ports system, it appears.
> [...]
May I raise a hand here, among you great programmers :) Bram, I'm an
ordinary ("casual") FreeBSD _user_ (which means, totally "from the
outside"), and I must say I deeply disagree here.
Reading the mailing lists and possession of secret knowledge are not
proviso to use the ports. One _has_ to read Handbook (once) and UPDATING
(always). For plain installations, without tweaking, that's ALL, and
it's simple. If one follows word by word what is written there,
everything will work flawlessly and no special knowledge on how the
ports system works is needed, including the case of Xorg update.
And that is the most impressive thing about FreeBSD, as we say here,
that it "works as a Swiss watch", and does it at every moment, despite
constant flow and changing. As of ports system, it's so smart and so
perfectly done that the most basic usage and the most advanced
tuning/hacking work hand-by-hand, with the same tools! The fact that it
_works_ impresses me as a human handiwork and a genial construction,
from a wider intellectual perspective, not only as a piece of software.
I humbly suggests you to follow those couple of steps from UPDATING
(since it counts as a regular thing you always do), use packages to save
the time, and your computer will be refreshed and shiny next morning.
Nikola Lečić
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