Subject: Re: removing packages
To: None <port-alpha@netbsd.org>
From: Feico Dillema <feico@pasta.cs.uit.no>
List: port-alpha
Date: 11/25/2000 17:04:15
On Sat, Nov 25, 2000 at 10:27:05AM -0500, Lord Isildur wrote:
> > 
> > At the moment, the base system isn't "pkgised" and files have to be
> > removed manually.  This will hopefully be fixed soon - someone is
> > working on it...
> 
> this is not good! this is BSD, the Berkeley Standard Distribution, that means
> that those tarballs ARE the closest thing you get to packages, which is 
> how it SHOULD be. We don't have to always just be aping what the linux 
> people do just because they're doing it. So what if they are more popular 

Calm down! Just because the SysV or the Linux crowd makes a mess of
something doesn't mean this something is evil in itself. Oh boy, they
have kernel threads and SMP support and it sucks! Let's hope BSD never
incorporates such functionality! I've had to deal with Linux/SysV init
and startup and think part of it is plain madness and a major hassle
and annoyance. But I also think the new NetBSD rc.d style is close
to genius, at least it is very elegant and easy to maintain. It is
also not very difficult to convert to the classic rc style, for those
that get easily nostalgic about some things. I've always been very
impressed by the NetBSD crowd creating elegant solutions where others
have miserably failed before.

Like you, I don't hope we get BSD pkg-ized like Linux distributions
do. I creates a lot of pain and doesn't solve any particular problem
at all. But some form of pkg-ization would be a good thing; not
because it's fun to chop up the BSD tarballs in trillions of smaller
ones. But because it's a good idea to have a list (database if you
want ot call it that) of what is installed on your system and what
dependencies exist between them. The NetBSD pkg system already does a
very good job at that for application programs, and I'd love to see the
contents of the NetBSD base distribution being recorded in the pkg
(or equivelent separate) database. Would enable very nice and elegant
sysadmin scripts to check completeness, correctness (md5 hashes?) and
enables pkgsrc packages to upgrade elegantly parts of the system (like
you want latest sendmail/bind/... without upgrading to newer NetBSD
yet) and apply security patches and the like. Also, it would make it
easier to create customized distributions for particular purposes,
like if you want to make a set of tarballs with all you need for a
small router or embedded system.

Feico.