On 10/01/03 10:27 PM, SoloCDM sat at the `puter and typed:
> <SNIP>
> 
> Most of the packages are tar-ed (so to speak -- into balls; ergo:  
> tarballs), which makes them larger (they usually install to many types
> of operating systems and that makes them large), the RPMs are strictly
> for RPM based OSs, which makes them small.

As I remember it, the tarball becomes part of the RPM, so that's not
entirely accurate.  Of course it's been awhile, so I may be wrong.

> > Read about the ports collection at www.freebsd.org.
> 
> I previously noticed.  They do a great job of including all the
> dependent files.  They try to make available as many as possible.
>
> > >  Does FreeBSD offer all the packages from A to Z in their CDs?
> > 
> > Not that I am aware of.  "All" the packages available to FreeBSD
> > amount to some 9000+ programs.
> 
> Yes, I noticed.
> 
> The thing I don't like is the different in the directory structures
> for RPMs vs. tarballs.  They simple don't match.  Tarballs seem to
> have the real and original directory structures.

The RPMs attempt to integrate the software package in an appropriate
manner to the OS layout.  To do otherwise could lead to hundreds of
/usr/local/ subdirectories.  The ports do the same thing, but a couple
years ago the RPMs generated a little cruft in upgrades and removals,
while the ports generate almost no cruft.

> Are packages more readily available with FreeBSD?  I saw port packages
> usually only heard about or hard to get.

Another place the ports shine.  If you want it, just install the port
- you don't have to search the net high and low to find it.  If it's
not available in one place, it will go look in other likely places.
It doesn't guarantee the file will always be found, but it does a darn
good job.  You only have to go download tarballs when the software is
under license that requires your acknowlegement (like the Sun Java
packages) or if the origins no longer have it in the expected
location.

I've rambled about this enough.  Suffice it to say that I'm pretty
much sold on FreeBSD, partly because of the ease with which software
is installed, upgraded, and removed.  Partly because I like having the
little daemon around :)

Lou
-- 
Louis LeBlanc               [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fully Funded Hobbyist, KeySlapper Extrordinaire :)
http://www.keyslapper.org                     ԿԬ

Small things make base men proud.
    -- William Shakespeare, "Henry VI"
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