descriptions of bsd packages?

[nuttervm]

the packages in bsd are great, but how do i know what they all are? is there some sort of list describing what each package does? i've looked around, but i haven't seen any package summaries or 'signatures' like they have in rpms.

so far the only ones i use are nmap, screen and bash, but i'm sure there are other useful packages. what packages do you guys use and find useful?

i've also noticed that the freebsd package collection and the openbsd collection are different. can i use freebsd packages in openbsd ? (ie apache)

 

[n0cmonkey]

No, you cant use FreeBSD packages on OpenBSD. You might get away with the freebsd emulation, but apache is built into OpenBSD so for that you wouldnt need to. Anyhow, its not recommended.

"cd /usr/ports/&& make search key=term" will search for a particular term. "/usr/ports/net/xchat/pkg/DESCR" would be a description of xchat.

 

[nuttervm]

when you say 'its not reccommended' do you mean using freebsd packages, or using apache in openbsd? i think you meant using freebsd packages, but its not 100% clear.

any good howtos on using cvs and why its better than simply getting the latest via ftp? the bsd faq just says use it, and all the bsd guys do, but what makes it so good? any good scripts that automatically keep your ports collection up-to-date? i suppose i should only do things like this manually if possible for security reasons, but is there a way to auto check to see if a package/port i have installed is in need of upgrade?

with rpms i can create a database to find which packages are installed, and then download and update only them... it would be nice to do the same with cvs.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< when you say 'its not reccommended' do you mean using freebsd packages, or using apache in openbsd? i think you meant using freebsd packages, but its not 100% clear. >>



Packages, yeah, sorry



<< any good howtos on using cvs and why its better than simply getting the latest via ftp? the bsd faq just says use it, and all the bsd guys do, but what makes it so good? >>



You basically update just the source that needs updating. You dont have to download the whole tree again. So it should be faster and managing cvs is easier than managing hundreds of packages on an ftp server.



<< any good scripts that automatically keep your ports collection up-to-date? >>



Not that I am aware of, but it wouldnt be hard to write one.



<< i suppose i should only do things like this manually if possible for security reasons, but is there a way to auto check to see if a package/port i have installed is in need of upgrade?with rpms i can create a database to find which packages are installed, and then download and update only them... it would be nice to do the same with cvs. >>



pkg_info will show you what ports/packages you have installed and you can check cvs by web or just update it every so often to see if you need a newer version. But Id hld off on updating via cvs until the new documentation comes out. I am not sure how they are handling ports in 3.0 since ports started tracking current...

 

[nuttervm]

the thing is, i havent updated any software on this machine since I installed. it doesnt say anywhere if they replace buggy/insecure software in the installation directories themselves, or if i have to take care of that myself. i would think they would make users download the new 'good' version when installing but ya never know. there have been a few bugs/holes since 2.9's release in june so i want to play nice and have the latest version installed.

i'm not comfortable with 3.0 yet and want to hold off for a while and mess around with it on my test box before i upgrade my firewall to it. (most importantly, i need to learn how to write pf rules as well as nat rules since those packages have changed.)

 

[nuttervm]

and yeah, i knew about all the pkg_* commands, but they generally only work with packages that are already installed, not ones that you intend to install.

the man pages talk about dependencies and things like that, but not actual descriptions of what the package DOES.

ed: wait i think the -d switch will give me that description. still, it would be nice if i could figure it out without having to download the package first.

 

[n0cmonkey]

The descriptions provided be the DESCR file arent good enough?

Anyhow, Im sticking with 2.9 on my firewall machine and 3.0 on my desktop for now. If you update ports you should be able to remove the old port, install the new port, and have bug fixes fixed. As far as the patches to the system itself, you can download the src patches or cvs to -stable (or current, but I prefer stable) and that will take care of patching for you. You will then just have to build everything.