===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsrepo/anoncvs/cvs/www/Attic/ports.html,v
retrieving revision 1.55
retrieving revision 1.56
diff -u -r1.55 -r1.56
--- www/Attic/ports.html	2001/08/12 20:14:29	1.55
+++ www/Attic/ports.html	2001/08/22 14:34:09	1.56
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 <li><a href="#Example">Example Use of the Ports Tree</a></li>
 <li><a href="#Advanced">Advanced Usage of the Ports Tree</a></li>
 <li><a href="#Create">Creating New Ports</a></li>
+<li><a href="#Lag">When a Port Is Lagging Behind the Mainstream Version</a></li>
 <li><a href="#Help">Problems and Contacts</a></li>
 </ul>
 
@@ -292,6 +293,37 @@
 <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/porters-handbook/">FreeBSD Porter's Handbook</a>
 as well as OpenBSD specific policies and hints.
 
+<h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Lag">When a Port Is Lagging Behind the Mainstream Version</a></font></h3>
+
+<p>
+The ports collection is a volunteer project. Sometimes the project simply 
+doesn't have the developer resources to keep everything up-to-date. 
+Developers pretty much pick up what they consider interesting and can
+test in their environment. Your <a href="goals.html#funding">donations</a>
+count for what platforms the ports can be tested on. 
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some individual ports may lag behind the mainstream versions because of this.
+The ports collection may have a version back of a program from January while a new
+version of the program has been released by its developers in May three months ago.
+Often this is a conscious decision; the new version may have problems in it on
+OpenBSD that the maintainer is trying to solve, or that have simply made the 
+application worse than the old version: OpenBSD may have different 
+<a href="goals.html">goals</a> than the mainstream developers in other projects,
+which sometimes results in features and design or implementation choices
+that are undesirable from OpenBSD developers' point of view. The update may also be 
+postponed because the new version is not considered a crucial update.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If you really need a new version of a port, you should ask the <tt>MAINTAINER</tt>
+of the port to update the port (see <a href="#Help">below</a> on how to find out who 
+the maintainer is); if you can send patches for this, all the better. To create proper 
+patches, you should refer to the <a href="porting.html">documentation on building 
+ports</a>.
+</p>
+
 <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Help">Problems and Contacts</a></font></h3>
 
 <p>
@@ -342,6 +374,6 @@
 <hr>
 <a href="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src=back.gif border=0 alt=OpenBSD></a> 
 <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
-<br><small>$OpenBSD: ports.html,v 1.55 2001/08/12 20:14:29 heko Exp $</small>
+<br><small>$OpenBSD: ports.html,v 1.56 2001/08/22 14:34:09 heko Exp $</small>
 </body>
 </html>