# If I'm using -STABLE, is there any issue using both packages and ports?



## bigtoque (Aug 12, 2011)

When I was first starting out with FreeBSD, I was using -RELEASE and noticed that if I would add packages and later use ports, I would get all kinds of error messages about certain ports or packages requiring certain versions of things and it just seemed to be a nightmare and I switched to using ports exclusively.

Now that I'm using -STABLE and packages are coming from the "latest" repository as opposed to "release", and I really have no interest in compiling xorg, firefox, libreoffice, k3b, etc, is there any reason I couldn't just add those packages and then switch back to using ports? Or will I end up getting warning messages about program versions again?


----------



## rusty (Aug 12, 2011)

It depends if you generally use the base config for ports or like/need to change options.
Personally I'd rather do one or the other for peace of mind.


----------



## fonz (Aug 13, 2011)

bigtoque said:
			
		

> I really have no interest in compiling xorg, firefox, libreoffice, k3b, etc, is there any reason I couldn't just add those packages and then switch back to using ports?


For starters, x11/xorg isn't even that bad. It may take a little while but compiling it from ports in my opinion is doable.

Having said that, using a couple of packages with the rest coming from ports should normally not cause serious problems. Particularly the "ports" you mention, e.g. www/firefox etc. are relatively stable. As long as you don't mix ports and packages too much, you should be fine.

Fonz


----------

