# Where to get /usr/ports/UPDATING when using packages only?



## honk (Nov 27, 2021)

Since the beginning of my FreeBSD journey I'm using ports to install software. As compiling ports and all their dependencies becomes more and more a time consuming and frustrating task, I would like to switch to precompiled packages.

For ports (but unfortunately not for packages!) the Handbook mentions clearly:


> "..Before attempting an upgrade, read /usr/ports/UPDATING [..] This file describes various issues and additional steps users may encounter and need to perform when updating a port, including such things as file format changes, changes in locations of configuration files, or any incompatibilities with previous versions..."



I assume that this file also continues to contain important information for users of precompiled packages. But as I don't want to use ports anymore I want to avoid keeping a full and up-to-date ports tree on my systems. This leads to the question, where packages-only users are supposed to get the information from /usr/ports/UPDATING? I'm not looking for inoffical/external sources (i.e. private websites, repositories, mirrors etc.).

Thanks a lot in advance!


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## T-Daemon (Nov 27, 2021)

You can retrieve ports UPDATING from FreeBSD GIT repository https://cgit.freebsd.org/ports/tree or from the official Githup FreeBSD mirror https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports:

For example:

```
"quarterly"
fetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/2021Q4/UPDATING

"latest"
fetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/main/UPDATING
```


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## VladiBG (Nov 27, 2021)

FreshPorts -- UPDATING
					

UPDATING




					www.freshports.org


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## DutchDaemon (Nov 27, 2021)

See also pkg-updating(8).

```
Defines that the UPDATING file is in /tmp and shows all entries of all installed ports:
       % pkg updating -f /tmp/UPDATING
```


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