nb suffix to package names

[Bill Hacker]

Jeremy C. Reed wrote:
Two questions here:
 . what does the 'nb' suffix mean ?
 . what is the interpretation of the number after 'nb' ?

No idea what current use is, but a NetBSD sub-ID similar to a more generic
'p(X) patchlevel does look to be a reasonable fit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nota_bene

It adds a pkgsrc specific revision to an existing version.

Sometimes packages have a revision noted just because they differ from 
upstream version. (But that depends on the maintainer.)

Anytime a resulting package changes, the "nb" number is increased by 
updating the PKGREVISION variable. For example, changes may be: new 
patches, different files installed, removed configuration options, changed 
dependencies, etc. Note that if a ABI (binary interface) of a dependency 
changes, the PKGREVISION of the dependent package is increased too, so a 
new binary package will be built using that dependency's ABI. Whenever the 
official version increased (due to update), the PKGREVISION variable may 
be unset and so "nb" is removed.

For more information look at the pkgsrc Guide (pkgsrc/doc/guide.txt or 
html) for PKGREVISION and nb.
Ah so.

IOW - may reflect changes in the *rest of* the package rather than (just) the 
'primary'?

One of those (many!) useful items we tend to take for granted...

Over the past two years I've moved to probably 90% pkgsrc, (OpenBSD, NetBSD, 
DragonFlyBSD) 10% source-builds (still necessary with a good deal of what I do 
on FreeBSD, as it is more likely to not be in either ports or packages).

pgsrc has been amazingly solid, and that cannot be accidental or easy.

'Kudo's' to those who've made it work so well.

Beer too - for those in Hong Kong in the winter or Northern Virginia in the 
summertime...

;-)

Bill