Apparently the reply-to didn't work right
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 11:43:23 -0500 (CDT)
From: Shane Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Todd Greer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux and FreeBSD
On Tue, 27 Apr 1999, Todd Greer wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, David Linville wrote:
>
> > [...] Anyone who has ever
> > tried getting all the packages required to install any major free Linux app
> > would cry if they knew about the FreeBSD port system. One command and
> > almost any app I have ever needed has downloaded and installed itself and
> > ran perfectly with *minimal* configuration. [...]
>
>
> I'm not familiar with the FreeBSD port system, but if it is easier than this,
> I would be most interested in learning more, and would appreciate a post on
> that subject (even if it would make me cry). I guess one thing that rpm
> doesn't do automatically is _get_ the other packages.
This is exactly what is so cool about the FreeBSD port system. It not only
knows which packages are dependencies (like RPM), but if you don't have them
locally, it will ask if it can go out and get them from the net. It then
installs thos packages (get any other depndencies if necessary), and returns
to your install, all automagically.
I have installed a number of programs this way and it is much easier than RPM
(which I have also used). It's been a while since I set up the FreeBSD box
so I don't remember the exact commands or mechanism, but you basically type
make build; make install and it does all the work for you. You might want
to take a look at http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/ports.html
for more info.
PS: Somebody mentioned that they might give freebsd a try. Just a
suggestion, but you might consider instealling VMWare and then putting
freebsd in the virtual partition rather than creating real partitions or
mucking with fips/fdisk/disk druid, etc. You won't be able to evaluate the
performance fairly, but you can get a feel for some of the differences.
--
Public key at www-swiss.ai.mit.edu | Shane Williams
/~bal/pks-toplev.html | Systems Administrator UT-GSLIS
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