# pkg-descr more information.



## Dru (Oct 30, 2009)

Hi all,

I wasnt sure if this was just for forum feedback, and this may sound stupid to long time users, but I was wondering if an added/required information format had been ever thought about for pkg-descr files.

http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=8031

Copypaiste had asked about good terminal emulators in the above thread, and I was actually trying to find some good ones awhile back myself.

Here is an example of the terminal emulator pkg-descr file:


> This is the Terminal emulator application. Terminal is a lightweight and
> easy to use terminal emulator for the X windowing system



Without actually taking time to find 3rd party information on Google, or install it, a person doesn't really get a much useful information about programs, and the above example is actually one of the more descriptive ones.

Im left wondering, does it support copy/paste, tabs, colors, image backgrounds...etc.

It just seems to me, that more information might be helpful, some of the pkg-descr files have funny human touches the way theyre wrote, like a developer had wrote what was on his mind at the time, for example. 

I like and wouldnt want to lose that, due to an enforced standard, but it would be nice to have something of the nature:



> This is the Terminal emulator application. Terminal is a easy to use terminal emulator for the X windowing system.
> Features : tabs, copy/paste, etc, etc.
> Resources: lightweight.



Im not one to rock the boat, and I dont see any reason why I wont be using FreeBSD for a long time to come, I love it. I just thought it might be worth mentioning.

Edit: I should note that the terminal emulator pkg-descr contains a web link for more information, which in this case, actually led to a site with screenshots and information, but Ive came across dead links, or little info in other cases. I cant remember if sysinstall shows the link or not, I dont think it does, but either way, it would be a little harder to visit in that method.


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## SirDice (Oct 30, 2009)

There's usually a link in the pkg-descr pointing to the application's website. It's prefixed with "WWW:". Freshports uses it for their "Main Web Site" links.


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## Beastie (Oct 30, 2009)

By checking the dependencies you can see that Terminal is Xfce's terminal emulator. It supports everything you listed.

When in doubt, just search for the port's homepage. In this case it's http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/applications/terminal

If there are dead links, most of the time it means the project is dead.


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## jb_fvwm2 (Oct 30, 2009)

an additional idea:

grep ..... pkg-descr

This port builds with the following dependency order.....
1.....   /devel/this port
2.....   /x11-toolkits/that port; /graphics/this other port
3.....   /databases/thisotherport  # with options...

one of the problems, the other dependencies might have additional
ones more recent.  So add maybe

....July 1 2009.....  
or something.


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## Dru (Oct 30, 2009)

SirDice, yeah I noticed that, the only bad thing is, it doesnt show in sysinstall, and if a person is wanting to add some software during install using packages, they either have to go by previous experience, or have another pc by, then cat the pkg-descr file, then go to another pc, and type in the url.


Beastie, I still have a lot to learn, thats for sure, but unless I specifically knew what each dependency does, then Im unsure how checking them would let me know whats supported.

The link in the pkg-descr for the terminal emulator is still at
http://www.os-cillation.com/

Speaking of dead projects, it would also be nice if there was a date listed, so someone could easily just look and see when it was last maintained...etc.

I think there is software in sysutils, that lets someone easily browse the packages, and ports, but I have yet be able to choose something good, and install it.

I check:
http://portsmon.freebsd.org/portoverview.py
And that does help, but information without having a browser installed would be handy.

I dunno, maybe I am going about it all wrong, but it just seems like there has to be an easier way, I know actually going through and updating all the old, would take a lot of time and work, but in all honesty, it seems kind of a big mess to me at the moment. Some terminals listed in sysutils, some in x11...for example, and little info without research.


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## Beastie (Oct 31, 2009)

Dru said:
			
		

> Beastie, I still have a lot to learn, thats for sure, but unless I specifically knew what each dependency does, then Im unsure how checking them would let me know whats supported.
> 
> The link in the pkg-descr for the terminal emulator is still at
> http://www.os-cillation.com/


Okay, I'm not saying every port is easy to "read", but you can still get many clues, from their dependencies for instance.
You took the example of "Terminal". One of the dependencies is libxfce4util. It tells you it's probably part of the Xfce DE. The first result of a google search for "Xfce" is the official webpage. You click projects. You can then easily find "Terminal" and a whole lot of other applications. You can also get a screenshot that clearly shows tab support. os-cillation is the *original* project's webpage, and by doing a little search on your own you can find that out and find the second page I've talked about too.

Yes, the port system is not perfect (but then, nothing is). And yes, it can be improved. I agree. But maintainers are busy people and most of the time, they maintain more than one port, so "polishing" is usually not their first priority.


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