Compatability with FreeBSD Ports [debian package tools]

[Charles Allen]

>> In my opinion, the option to build packages is only useful to people who
>> want extreme modifications to their applications.  I am sure most
>> people, including me would not really care about source packages; I for
>> one would not bother building OpenOffice or KDE locally, total waste of

> There are at least a _few_ exceptions to this.  One being mplayer where
> you can get a few percent improvement allowing it to taylor itself to your
> CPU at compile time.  Don't scoff though, this can make the difference

I must admit I'm a bit shocked at the "binary packages only" talk.
One of the whole points, for me, of using the BSD's is that I have the
option of looking at the source and build structure, not just for the
system stuff, but for outside applications as well (ports for me, as I
use FreeBSD these days).  I've managed to help fix a few build bugs as
a result.

The tailoring to individual use is also important: I set MINIMAL_KDE
and WITHOUT_GNOME in /etc/make.conf because the chance of bringing in
broken cruft from KDE and/or Gnome is minimized.  As a result, I can't
remember the last time I had problems with portupgrade.  I upgrade
system and ports every 1-3 weeks or so, on three different boxes, with
200-300 ports on each.

-- 
Charles Allen