Hi, I've been working for quite some time now on an alternative package-manager for OpenBSD, and since things start working rather fine now I think it's time to let you guys know.
Lets dive in deep and take a look at a Pkgfile; the description of a port: --------------------------------- # Description: A tool for transfering files with URL syntax # Maintainer: Han Boetes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> # URL: http://curl.haxx.se # Depends: name=curl version=7.15.3 release=1 source="http://curl.haxx.se/download/$name-$version.tar.bz2"; build() { cd $name-$version ./configure \ --prefix=/usr/local \ --with-random=/dev/arandom make make install DESTDIR=$PKG } --------------------------------- As you can see it contains nothing more than the bare minimum which defines how to build and fake-install a source-code package. If you can see why this is an advantage to you please read on: In 2000 Per Liden started CRUX-Linux, a distro based on simplicity. The idea for the ports system was influenced by BSD ports, but written in sh and C++, the Pkgfiles which define how a package should be build are nothing but simple shell-scripts. Cruxports for OpenBSD is a port/rewrite of the CRUX ports-system to OpenBSD, and is completely written in sh, except for a simple parser written in C. Now I hear you say: "What's wrong with the normal ports?" Well... wrong is a big word. It's just a matter of personal preference I think. But let me give you a list of reasons why I prefer cruxports. * Lightweight. * Always the latest versions of software, no matter which release you use. * CRUX ports are much easier to create and maintain since the ports are shell-based. * Portable, anyone can read and understand a cruxport. * Dependencies are optional. * It's not trying to be braindead-proof. * No checking of md5sum on uninstall of files. * Files in /etc are installed, and maintained with a mergemaster like application (rejmerge) in a sane and easy way. * You can easily share your own ports with others with httpup. * Does not conflict with other package-managers. * You can build packages from alternative sources like binaries or CVS. my c4o page can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanb/software/c4o/ # Han
