In addition to the other ideas:

Look at the /usr/pkgsrc/pkglocate script.

As for packages (ready-to-use) on the FTP server, consider fetching the
file list only one time and save the results to search later. (Update
every day or week.)

Also, at one time I suggested that their should be a master list of all
packages that also lists the packages' COMMENTs and the packages'
dependencies. Then you could just update to that master list, then have a
script to install packages that would be smart enough to know what to
fetch and if it work without uninstalling packages first. I had some
testing code for this.


   Jeremy C. Reed
   http://www.reedmedia.net/