Re: GoBSD distribution

[walt <wa1ter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004, leo wrote:

> I intend to set up a system to learn C and to play around with unix, but I
> haven't decided if I'll go with df or netBSD just yet.

I don't know what I was thinking when I said I'd never used pkgsrc -- it's
the standard package system for NetBSD, and I use it frequently.  Since this
is very much relevant to DragonFly I'll toss in my 2cents.

At present, pkgsrc lacks one critically important feature of FreeBSD's system:
it cannot restore the old package if the new one fails to build (which is
often!)

For example, every time one or two parts of a complicated desktop
environment like kde or gnome get updated, pkgsrc first *deletes*
every other package which depends on the new packages (usually most
of them) before even attempting to build the new ones.

If even one small package fails to build properly you now have a useless
pile of rubble where your wonderful computer stood just minutes ago ;o)
IMHO this is simply unacceptable -- it has wasted many hours of my time
on many occasions -- which is why I rarely update packages on my NetBSD
box now.

Because pkgsrc is a work in progress (just like DragonFly) it will be
improved in the future, I'm sure.  I can't be the only one who is
annoyed by its shortcomings.  OTOH if you want to learn how to do
things in unix, rebuilding your packages by hand is a great way to
learn -- I've learned a lot because of pkgsrc ;o)