[GLLUG] FreeBSD Package Collection

[Charles Ulrich]

On Wed, 2004-09-08 at 15:32, Adam McDougall wrote:
> 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. 

Also, it can helps to understand the relationship between ports and
packages: ports build packages. Every FreeBSD package that comes with
the official distribution was compiled directly from a port. (You can
create your own binary packages any time you like, too, just by doing
'make package' on any port.)

Charles Ulrich
-- 
http://bityard.net