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tweak-o-rama

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<h2><font color=#e00000>Ports and Packages</font><hr></h2>

<h3><font color=#0000e0>History</font></h3>

<p>
OpenBSD is a fairly complete system of its own, but still there is a lot
of software that one might want see added. However there is the problem
on where to draw the line as to what to include, as well as the occasional
licensing and export restriction problems.  As OpenBSD is supposed to be
a small stand-alone UNIX-like operating system, some things just can't be
shipped with the system.

<p>
We wanted to find a way for users to easily get software we don't provide
and started to look around. We didn't have to look far, as sibling project
<a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a> already had an 
	excellent mechanism
for exactly this purpose called
<a href="http://www.freebsd.org/ports/">"The ports collection"</a>.

<p>
At first we tried to use their collection as-is, but due to
incompatibility problems between FreeBSD and OpenBSD we decided to branch
out and create our very own OpenBSD Ports Project using FreeBSD's as a
starting point.  This also allows us to tune the ports better to our
system.

<h3><font color=#0000e0>Short description and setup</font></h3>

<p>
The ports idea is to have, for each piece of software, a Makefile that
controls
<ul>
<li>where to fetch it,
<li>how to do the fetch,
<li>what it depends upon (if anything),
<li>how to alter the sources (if needed),
<li>and how to configure, build and install it.
</ul>
<p>
This information is kept in a directory hierarchy under the
/usr/ports directory.
<h3><font color=#0000e0>Getting the Ports tree</font></h3>
<p>
The ports source tree can be retrieved via:
<ul>
<li><a href=anoncvs.html>Anonymous CVS</a> (see link).  The command is
essentially <strong>cvs get ports</strong>.
<li>Anonymous ftp from
<a href="ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz">
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz</a>.
	This archive is updated nightly.
<li>Your web browser using the 
<a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/">CVS
	web interface</a>.
</ul>
<p>
You can also ftp the latest release version from the pub/OpenBSD/[version]
(where [version] is the release number, e.g. 2.5) directory
on any of the <a href=ftp.html>ftp mirror sites</a>.
The release versions are the ones we ship on our CDROM, and has gone
through better testing than any snapshot.  However, they age pretty
quickly, due to older distribution files disappearing from the net as
new releases arrive.  Therefore, you likely will want to get and use
a newer version of the ports tree.

<h3><font color=#0000e0>Example use of the Ports tree</font></h3>

<p>
Let's say you managed to get a ports tree and you want to compile and
install the archiving utility <code>unzip</code>.  You should be able to
	do something like this:
<pre>
% cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip
% su
# make
# make install
# exit
</pre>
Easy, huh?

<h3><font color=#0000e0>Port status information</font></h3>

<p>
The <a href="portstat.html">ports status page</a> is updated as
team members add new ports and verify existing ports.  Existing
ports are continually verified to validate source availability and
proper operation with the current OpenBSD sources.  The page notes
the date last checked and the nature of any change.  This is a new
resource that is not yet complete.  If you have any information to
add to the status page please send it to
<a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@OpenBSD.ORG</a>.

<h3><font color=#0000e0>Creating new ports</font></h3>

<p>
If you are interested in helping to expand the OpenBSD ports tree
you should first read <a href="porting.html">porting.html</a>.
That page references the porting section of the
<a href="http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/">FreeBSD handbook</a>
as well as OpenBSD specific policies and hints.

<h3><font color=#0000e0>Problems and contacts</font></h3>

<p>
If you have trouble with ports please send e-mail to the OpenBSD
ports mailing list, <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@OpenBSD.ORG</a>.
Corrections are always welcome, but in any case do please provide:
<ul>
<li>The output of <code>uname -a</code>,
<li>Your OpenBSD version, including any patches you may have applied,
<li>A complete description of the problem.

</ul>

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