[GLLUG] FreeBSD Package Collection

[Adam McDougall]

On Wed, Sep 08, 2004 at 02:33:18PM -0400, Brian Hoort wrote:

  Oh wise BSDers,
  
  I'm reading the installation manual on FreeBSD.
  
  What is the package collection?  Is it a list of the available packages, 
  the program binaries themselves, or the source?  Must one install the 
  package collection in order to use the stand/sysinstall to install new 
  packages?
  
  Thanks
  
The package collection is a collection of binary packages of software
that was previously compiled using the ports collection on some machine.
sysinstall and pkg_add can install these packages without requiring 
any other setup.  sysinstall can present a list and allow you to make
selections honoring dependancies, selecting from software packages online
(ftp sites for example) or from local media.  pkg_add can add a pre-
downloaded binary package (usually .tgz or .tbz) or alternatively
download it for you with dependancies using the -r option. 
eg, pkg_add -r bash  should get and install bash plus any runtime 
dependancies, and warn you if it cannot obtain any.