# PACKAGESITE



## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

I have an old FreeBSD 7.3 and I haven't installed packages on it in quite a while.

Hint: Don't tell me to upgrade my old FreeBSD 7.3 system. There's a reason why I keep it old .

Here's the issue:

My PACKAGESITE variable is not set up correctly. Where are the  "FreeBSD-7-Stable" packages now? I can't find them on the following site:


```
http://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/ports/i386/packages-7-stable/Latest/
```

I really don't want to use the ""FreeBSD-7.3-RELEASE" packages". They are usually older than the "Stable" release.


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## ljboiler (Feb 14, 2014)

Nothing -STABLE related appears to be archived; only the -RELEASE versions of stuff would be of historical interest.  And since FreeBSD 7.3 is no longer supported (http://www.freebsd.org/security/unsupported.html), no -STABLE versions of the ports packages would be being built at this time for downloading.
Your only option is to build anything you want from the ports tree themselves if you want something newer than the 7.3-RELEASE version.  Good luck with that.

P.S.  At no time in the posting of this reply was the OP told to upgrade his system.


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## SirDice (Feb 14, 2014)

Niatross said:
			
		

> Where are the  "FreeBSD-7-Stable" packages now?


They're gone because support for 7 ended in February 2013.

Using ports may be your only option but there's no guarantee the ports tree actually works on an unsupported version.


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## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

So the best thing to do with an unsupported version of FreeBSD is:

#1 Stay away from the current ports tree

         This means:
         If I don't want the nightmare of potential compiling errors and issues, never use Portsnap or Subversion to download the current ports tree and never use port update utilities (ex: Portmaster)

#2 Only use the ports tree that is compatible with your operating system (ex:"FreeBSD-7.3-RELEASE")

#3 Use packages that are compatible with your operating system (ex: export PACKAGESITE=ftp://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/ports/i386/packages-7.3-release/Latest/)

Do I have it down right? Correct me if i'm missing something.

Again, let this be a reminder for people that want to tell me to upgrade the operating system: *I do not want to upgrade my FreeBSD 7.3-RELEASE operating system to a newer version*.


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## kpa (Feb 14, 2014)

Pretty much what you listed but with the additional caveat that the last version of the ports tree that worked with 7.3 is probably 2 years old (if you go by the date the support for 7.3 ended) now. If you discover that there's a major vulnerability in a port you're using you're totally on your own with getting the vulnerability fixed.


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## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

kpa said:
			
		

> Pretty much what you listed but with the additional caveat that the last version of the ports tree that worked with 7.3 is probably 2 years old (if you go by the date the support for 7.3 ended) now. If you discover that there's a major vulnerability in a port you're using you're totally on your own with getting the vulnerability fixed.



Yah, I'm not concerned with that. A port that doesn't build or an older operating system that has security vulnerabilities are the least of my worries. There are bigger issues to deal with when it comes to me and this FreeBSD 7.3-RELEASE platform.


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## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

I see where I can download the FreeBSD-7.3-RELEASE ports tree from the following site:


```
svn checkout svn://svn0.us-west.FreeBSD.org/ports/tags/RELEASE_7_3_0
```


...but could't I get away with downloading the current head when FreeBSD-7.3 went EOL?

Example:


```
svn checkout svn://svn0.us-west.FreeBSD.org/ports/tags/RELEASE_7_EOL
```


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## trh411 (Feb 14, 2014)

```
svn checkout svn://svn0.us-west.FreeBSD.org/ports/tags/RELEASE_7_3_0
```
appears to be full ports tree as far as I can tell. I don't think you will find anything newer than that in the FreeBSD-7.3 era.


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## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

Here is a better view of what i'm talking about:

*RELEASE_7_3_0*


```
http://svnweb.freebsd.org/ports/tags/RELEASE_7_3_0
```

*RELEASE_7_EOL*


```
http://svnweb.freebsd.org/ports/tags/RELEASE_7_EOL
```

Look at the "Age" column and compare the two. It looks like I can use the CURRENT head when FreeBSD 7.3 went EOL.

Right?

At least I'll get a lot newer ports than the static RELEASE_7_3_0 ports.


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## trh411 (Feb 14, 2014)

Niatross said:
			
		

> Here is a better view of what i'm talking about:
> 
> *RELEASE_7_3_0*
> 
> ...


Yes you will. I misread your earlier post. I read the words "couldn't I" as "I couldn't" and thought that the RELEASE_7_EOL tag did not have what you need. I should have checked it myself. Sorry.


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## kpa (Feb 14, 2014)

You only have to compare the revision numbers to see that RELEASE_7_EOL is much newer than RELEASE_7_3_0. The name even suggests that RELEASE_7_EOL was tagged when the last release of FreeBSD 7 (which was stable/7 btw) was retired.


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## Niatross (Feb 14, 2014)

kpa said:
			
		

> You only have to compare the revision numbers to see that RELEASE_7_EOL is much newer than RELEASE_7_3_0. The name even suggests that RELEASE_7_EOL was tagged when the last release of FreeBSD 7 (which was stable/7 btw) was retired.



Why does the FreeBSD team allow you access to the RELEASE_7_EOL (AKA: Stable) ports, but they won't allow you access to the "packages-7-stable"? I can't find "packages-7-stable" anywhere on the FreeBSD FTP Archive site.

Sure, you can point your PACKAGESITE variable to the static "packages-7-release", but who wants those old things?

I don't get why they don't leave "packages-7-stable" on the FreeBSD FTP Archive site. They only have  "packages-7-stable" for other types of architecture (ex: "Sparc", etc). They have none for "amd64" or "i386".


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