Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 21:57:26 -0700 From: Kent Stewart <kstewart@3-cities.com> To: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> Cc: Gunnar H Reichert-Weygold <gunnar@paganlibrary.com>, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Ports: any difference between 3.x/4.0? Message-ID: <39067736.C453940F@3-cities.com> References: <Pine.LNX.4.10.10004251520180.11052-100000@mail.telestream.com> <00042518315401.00333@gunnar.my.domain> <20000426074930.B570@physics.iisc.ernet.in>
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Rahul Siddharthan wrote: > > I have never had any of the problems cited below, regarding ports. > > But lately I've sometimes had the "make" stop halfway with some error > message, and if I do it again with CC=gcc295 CXX=g++295 it works > fine, though the port itself doesn't require gcc2.95 to be installed. > > Is it because the port was written for 4.0 and I'm still running > 3.4? Or do I have the wrong port tree? There are some differences. For example, Code Crusader needs Bison, which used to be installed, but it is no longer installed as part of the system. The maintainer has to add a line to the make file before it will build. Upgraded systems will never see it because they probably already have it installed. I did a clean install and had problems. It was only one line in what seemed like 20,000 and you had to be lucky just to see it streaming by on the screen. There are several classes of defines (u_context_t, sigset, sys_nerr, and socklen_t as examples) that are different in gcc-2.95.2 in FreeBSD 4.0. These can cause ports that built perfectly fine on 3.4 to crash and burn on 4.0 because there were conflicting definitions and 2.95 aborts. If you still have the old one on your machine, one will work and the new one won't. The problem is that the build by the old one is out of step with 4.0. Will it matter? Who knows. I encountered one that depended on automake and/or autoconf but never checked. It was the first time since I started playing with FreeBSD that I didn't have both on my system. The changes that they made to the Makefiles in the ports left a number broken for a short time. Your port setup could be out of step with the ports themselves. The "cvs commits" to fix the new Makefile structure have pretty much died off recently. There was one recently where mirrors were out of step with the host site but it wasn't available. Occasionally, a port will be upgraded and the old files disappear. Someone has to find what the new versions are and pass it on to the maintainer. It worked for him and he won't be trying to do a fresh install. If you have the 4-CD's, you won't know about it because you have a consistent set and the port can install from the CD if you have it mounted. Some of these things could occur on 4.0 but it could have also happened on 3.4 if you were still running it. The ports are dynamic but I find they have far fewer problems than my trying to configure something I have never installed before. Murphy is just waiting to demonstrate another clueless moment in that situation. I figure if something hasn't gone wrong today, I haven't tried to do anything :). Kent > > Thanks > Rahul. > > Gunnar H Reichert-Weygold said on Apr 25, 2000 at 18:30:54: > > The problems I've had have either been id10t related, or PEBKAC (problem exists > > between keyboard and chair). > > > > > > On Tue, 25 Apr 2000, keith@mail.telestream.com wrote: > > > I hardly think it has to do with ports. Operator error more likely. > > > I do admit to having a problem with two or three ports but in the end it > > > was my own ignorance that was the problem, not the ports system. > > > Perhaps you should look at the same issue I did to find the problem. > > > :) > > > > > > Keith > > > > > > > > > ================================= > > > I here by change the name > > > of RedHat to RedSplat. > > > > > > Keith W. > > > At the helm <for better or worse> > > > ================================= > > > > > > > > > On Tue, 25 Apr 2000, Kenneth Wayne Culver wrote: > > > > > > > > That is my question. It seems the idea behind ports is trapped in the > > > > > 70's. They hardly work and many times get errors about "file not > > > > > found" or something equally annoying.. so I have to go in and screw > > > > > with it "by hand" which is no problem for me.. but the newbies are > > > > > another story. Once I ran make lynx and it said I had to have X11 > > > > > installed. What a crock.. another fine example is openssl ... It > > > > > wants the useless RSAREF crap. What a crock! What does Satoshi Asami > > > > > have to say about the disorganization of the ports collection? When > > > > > will FreeBSD come up with something more reliable? Yes, I cvsup'd the > > > > > latest ports as of about a week ago. The only reason I would like to > > > > > see ports be more reliable is because I have lots-o-people that want > > > > > to run *nix.. so I recommend to them FreeBSD. If ports were more > > > > > reliable, I would spend less time on the phone/net helping people > > > > > install stuff on their FreeBSD boxes. So far, the easiest solution > > > > > is to tell them to try Linux. rpm --install blahblahblah seems to > > > > > work better for newbies than depending on the ports and these folks > > > > > are pretty brainless when it comes to installing things "by hand ", > > > > > the "old fashioned way". Any info would be appreciated. Please > > > > > respond via email as I am not subscribed to the list. thanks, > > > > > kyates@wspice.com > > > > > > > > > I only have a couple of things to say to you about the ports > > > > collection. First off, you must be doing something wrong because I have > > > > NEVER had any of these problems. Second, many people's main reason for > > > > moving to FreeBSD _IS_ the ports tree. All you need to do is be sure > > > > you're connected to the internet when you go and type make somewhere, and > > > > all dependencies are fetched. I have had very few problems with the ports > > > > tree, and it has only made my life easier. > > > > > > > > > > > > ================================================================= > > > > | Kenneth Culver | FreeBSD: The best OS around. | > > > > | Unix Systems Administrator | ICQ #: 24767726 | > > > > | and student at The | AIM: muythaibxr | > > > > | The University of Maryland, | Website: (Under Construction) | > > > > | College Park. | http://www.wam.umd.edu/~culverk/| > > > > ================================================================= > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > > -- > > > > Equal opportunity heretic. > > > > Gunnar H Reichert-Weygold > > The Pagan Library > > http://www.paganlibrary.com > > --------------------------- > > FreeBSD 3.4----------PalmOS > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message -- Kent Stewart Richland, WA mailto:kstewart@3-cities.com http://www.3-cities.com/~kstewart/index.html FreeBSD News http://daily.daemonnews.org/ SETI(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) @ HOME http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Hunting Archibald Stewart, b 1802 in Ballymena, Antrim Co., NIR http://www.3-cities.com/~kstewart/genealogy/archibald_stewart.html To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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