Alistair Crooks <azcb0@juno.uts.amdahl.com> wrote:
> > But our friends from the FreeBSD camp have been successful in a gigantic
> > namespace pollution: Whenever the file you are looking for happens to be in
> > the FreeBSD port collection you get hundreds of pointers to directories
> > which do not contain what you were looking for. Apparently some FreeBSD
> > magic can use the coontents to track down the package, but to all that do
> > not run FreeBSD the mechanism is a major pain in the back, a bigger one
> > even than all the binary L*nux packages carrying the same names.  =8|
> In -current, we have the NetBSD package system, which is hugely derived
> from the FreeBSD ports system. The way it's set up, you don't have to
> know where the sources are - let the package system do the work for
> you. The following output shows how to install top (and this is on a
> machine behind a firewall).
<stuff deleted :->
> i.e. change to the directory, and type "make && make install". I must
> apologise, as it takes all the fun of outwitting search engines, finding
> up-to-date source tar-balls, making sure no-one's tampered with the
> tar-ball, patching and configuring it for NetBSD etc.

While having this available on *BSD is sure a fine thing, but those that
do run something different sure will get annoyed. May the Linux-folx see
what they did for years now! (SCNR, just kidding .)


 - Hubert

-- 
Hubert Feyrer <hubert.feyrer@rz.uni-regensburg.de>