# The portsmon.freebsd.org downed by Python



## bobmc (Apr 19, 2021)

The http://portsmon.freebsd.org/portsconcordanceformaintainer.py?maintainer=ports@FreeBSD.org has been broken for several weeks as a result of Python changes.

I am guessing the Ports monitor is just a script which fetches strings that it filters for the query of interest. Surely it can be done with almost any scripting tools.

I was on Upwork for a few years using IDEs for STM32 and Arduino.  If there was a problem installing an IDE, Python was usually the root cause.

I have Learning Python, 5th Edition, updated for 3.3 and 2.7 by Mark Lutz.  It's a massive 1500+ pages. I also have Lua, third edition, by Robert Ierusalimschy which is only 340 pages. Other books of Perl and Java are hundreds of pages.  Lua is the lightest of all.

Python is a popular general purpose, multi-paradigm language in two incompatible versions.  Perhaps scripting tools should be selected by how much the books weigh.

It would be interesting to also implement the ports monitor in Perl, Awk, Lua, and other tools.  Contrast and compare them for usability, reliability, and performance.  See FURPS for a short list of important software quality talking points.


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## SirDice (Apr 19, 2021)

bobmc said:


> has been broken for several weeks as a result of Python changes.


How about months? Maybe even years. It's been broken for a really, really long time.



bobmc said:


> I am guessing the Ports monitor is just a script which fetches strings that it filters for the query of interest. Surely it can be done with almost any scripting tools.





			https://pkg-status.freebsd.org


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## Jose (Apr 20, 2021)

SirDice said:


> How about months? Maybe even years. It's been broken for a really, really long time.


Why is it still up?


SirDice said:


> https://pkg-status.freebsd.org


An explanation of what "Qat" and "Exp" builds are would be really nice. Also, the default of sorting whatever "Exp" is by oldest  first is a terrible choice. I'm unlikely to care about packages built in 2014.


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