# From Debian to FreeBSD



## mfpas (Mar 6, 2013)

Hi,

I come here from Debian (after 5 happy years). The main reason that pushed me to search for equivalents to Debian is the freeze (I know that in ~1-2 months there would be a release but I cannot wait), which causes (in reality) a freeze to all branches, even to unstable/sid.

What I like to Debian? Excellent package management system and modular packages. I have already read some parts of the FreeBSD handbook (it is really good) and some man pages (ports/portmaster/pkgng/freebsd-update). It seems that these (ports/portmaster/pkgng/freebsd-update) can do all the management of the system updates/upgrades in a way close to Debian's APT. The difference is that in Debian this is unified in one tool (with poor handling of source packages), on the other hand FreeBSD solution may not be unified but it can handle source (system/ports) very efficiently. As far as it concerns ports I see that these are not so modular as Debian's. For example http://www.freshports.org/x11/kde4-baseapps/ is a set of packages (dolphin, konqueror ...etc). The question is compiling the port can I have installed only the parts that I want (eg install dolphin and get rid of konqueror)?

To sum up:
FreeBSD package managment is ok.
FreeBSD ports do not know(?).
FreeBSD ports are divided into stable/unstable (bleeding edge)? If yes how can I take the latest?

PS: I do not ask to change anything on FreeBSD. Do not suggest ArchLinux/Gentoo I have tested it and I do not like it!


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## SirDice (Mar 6, 2013)

x11/kde4-baseapps is a _meta_ port/package. It doesn't contain anything but dependencies. It's there for convenience. Same as x11/xorg and x11/gnome2.



			
				mfpas said:
			
		

> FreeBSD ports are devided to stable/unstable (bleeding edge)? If yes how can I take the latest?


No, there is only one ports tree. There is no stable or release.


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## mfpas (Mar 6, 2013)

SirDice said:
			
		

> x11/kde4-baseapps is a _meta_ port/package. It doesn't contain anything but dependencies. It's there for convenience. Same as x11/xorg and x11/gnome2.



First forgive my ignorance. In Debian metapackages is a set of packages installed to your system and handled as a one entity (upgraded as a set and not partial components). How can I install dolphin in FreeBSD ports (I do not want konqueror)?


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## zspider (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> PS: I do not ask to change anything on FreeBSD. Do not suggest ArchLinux/Gentoo I have tested it and I do not like it!



In that case, welcome.:e


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## mfpas (Mar 6, 2013)

SirDice said:
			
		

> x11/kde4-baseapps is a _meta_ port/package. It doesn't contain anything but dependencies. It's there for convenience. Same as x11/xorg and x11/gnome2.
> 
> 
> No, there is only one ports tree. There is no stable or release.



At least it is not as out of date as debian's unstable (kde 4.8.4).


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## SirDice (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> How can I install dolphin in FreeBSD ports (I do not want konqueror)?


I don't use KDE but I thought that Dolphin was a filemanager and Konquerer a webbrowser?


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## SirDice (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> At least it is not as out of date as debian's unstable (kde 4.8.4).



There's also Area 51.


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## mfpas (Mar 6, 2013)

SirDice said:
			
		

> There's also Area 51.



This is just excellent! This is what *I* was looking for.
Thanks


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## vadimk (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> FreeBSD package managment is ok.
> FreeBSD ports do not know (??).
> FreeBSD ports are devided to stable/unstable (bleeding edje)?? If yes how can I take the latest??



FreeBSD ports are also OK, though ports management and package management seems to be different parts of it and you need to use different tools (commands) to handle it. I use 4 different tools: 
- SVN client - to update port tree
- portupgrade (portsclean, portversion, portsclean) - to deal with versions and updates
- pkg_* commands to deal with packages on low level
- `make search`, `make fetchindex` - to search port and create port index

But there are much more tools, of course.

It may seem that you need to do pretty much of work "by hands" if you compare FreeBSD ports to APT or Macports, but from the other side you have many options and ports are fresh and reliable.


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## SirDice (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> This is just excellent! This is what I was looking for.
> Thanks



Yeah, that should keep you happy for a while. According to the Oct-Dec status report it should have 4.9.2.

https://www.freebsd.org/news/status/report-2012-10-2012-12.html#KDE/FreeBSD


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## mfpas (Mar 6, 2013)

vadimk said:
			
		

> FreeBSD ports are also OK, though ports management and package management seems to be different parts of it and you need to use different tools (commands) to handle it.
> I use 3 different tools:
> SVN client - to update port tree
> portupgrade (portsclean, portversion, portsclean) - to deal with versions and updates
> ...



After reading handbook and man pages I thing that the appropriate tools for what I want to do are ports/portmaster/pkgng/freebsd-update. The dark area know is what a port metapackage is? Is it installed as entity or it has the flexibility to choose part of it? The answer that is a dependencies collection confuse me (excuse newbie ).


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## SirDice (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> The dark area know is what a port metapackage is ?? Is it installed as entity or it has the flexibility to choose part of it??
> The answer that is a dependencies collection confuse me (excuse newbie ).


It depends a little on the port. But if you look at x11/xorg you will see a lot of options if you build that port. Keep in mind though that packages are always build using the default options. So if you want certain options enabled or disabled you have to build the port.


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## vadimk (Mar 6, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> After reading handbook and man pages I thing that the appropriate tools for what I want to do are ports/portmaster/pkgng/freebsd-update.
> The dark area know is what a port metapackage is ?? Is it installed as entity or it has the flexibility to choose part of it??
> The answer that is a dependencies collection confuse me (excuse newbie ).



It is hard for me to find such a tool in my ports tree. Usually talking about freebsd-update people mean this: freebsd-update. But this "update" is not suitable for ports, but for base system.


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## shepper (Mar 6, 2013)

> I come here from Debian (after 5 happy years). The main reason push me to search for equivalants to Debian is the freeze (I know that in ~1-2 months there would be a release but I cannot wait!!), which cause (in reality) freeze to all brunches even to unstable/sid.



Debian has a well deserved reputation for stability and as you noted a great package managment system.

Presently, FreeBSD package management system is changing from pkg_add to pkgng.  Yet due to a recent security compromise, no new binary packages have been built since December 2012 - essentially binary packages are frozen with no firm release date available.

That being said, the traditional FreeBSD user often builds from source using the ports system.  Using ports provides fine grain control over the packages but can require a significant amount of time.

Another option, particularly if you are comfortable using binary packages, and want a recent KDE4 desktop is to look at PC-BSD.  PC-BSD has been developing a binary package system ,PBI, with a goal to provide a rolling release.  Presently KDE 4.9.5 is available with plans for 4.10 in the near future


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## fonz (Mar 6, 2013)

shepper said:
			
		

> no new binary packages have been built since December 201*3*


I do hope your crystal ball is wrong about that one


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## roddierod (Mar 7, 2013)

mfpas said:
			
		

> After reading handbook and man pages I thing that the appropriate tools for what I want to do are ports/portmaster/pkgng/freebsd-update. The dark area know is what a port metapackage is? Is it installed as entity or it has the flexibility to choose part of it? The answer that is a dependencies collection confuse me (excuse newbie ).



A metaport is a port that calls other ports and installs them. If you go into the directory of the port and issue the command [CMD=""]make config[/CMD] you will see the options you have to choose from for that metaport.  Not using KDE, I don't know what they are.

As for installing separate apps for something such as KDE.  For Dolphin looks in ports/x11-fm
or for Konqueror looks in ports/www etc.

http://www.freebsd.org/ports/ is a good place to search for the name of a app you want to find and its location in the ports tree.


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## ajburch (Mar 18, 2013)

*Packages*

I came from Debian some time ago too and feel your pain. There were so many options to update and install software that I was overwhelmed. Unless you need to customize specific areas, I'd recommend sticking to packages now. Building ports can take forever. When I first came over to FreeBSD, I thought building ports was how all software was installed. It reminded me of Gentoo years ago. Packages made me love FreeBSD again. 

If you are about to build KDE ports, then I will say listen to the prior post and use PCBSD instead. I don't know how long it will take, but I do know it requires 20Gigs of space. Point being, it will take a long time. If you don't like PCBSD, then try the openbox version of GhostBSD.


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## mfpas (Apr 9, 2013)

shepper said:
			
		

> Presently, FreeBSD package management system is changing from pkg_add to pkgng.  Yet due to a recent security compromise, no new binary packages have been built since December 2012 - essentially binary packages are frozen with no firm release date available.
> 
> That being said, the traditional FreeBSD user often builds from source using the ports system.  Using ports provides fine grain control over the packages but can require a significant amount of time.



I have already t*e*sted ports. Wonderful, but it t*a*kes too long to comp*i*le (even wit*h* my i7 CPU). Is there any information when new binary packages (for PKGNG) will have been built?


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## rusty (Apr 9, 2013)

PCBSD have a repo you could use - Thread 38948


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