When I built a new port from making a
Makefile, it made a package out of it, so that's what I was familiar with.
The Porter's Handbook isn't easy. While, it's written in an adequate way for most that's needed, it has a minimal explanation, rather than one that's easier to pick up. A needed piece of information could be written in there once, without clues or references from other places in the handbook that need that information. The Slow Porting Chapters, require the Fast Porting chapters, because that information is a prerequisite, and it's labeled as if they're two different ways of porting. A lot on scripts (within the
Makefile) for build, do-install, post install, and so forth are missing from the Porters Handbook. They're mentioned in there, but a port can fail to build at different stages, because of that. One time, I'll read it, and then, I'll read that and another part months later, and something else will click.
I'm not familiar with other ways of installing outside of making or hacking
Makefile's, but I've seen a few mentioned or explained. I'm not sure if you can make a package out of it that way, or something like a package.
As for what you're doing, no matter how you install it, you have to tell your shell, where to find those files, or type out the whole directory and command each time. It's in the same file you set ALIAS's in, but it's not an ALIAS. It was your local .profile, .sh or other shell configuration file. In one of those files, you should find where your shell lists other bin directories for its use. But first, test if it runs, by going to the directory, and typing the executable name from there. The binary might need a
./ at the beginning, if you're running it from that directory.
Also, that program may need run time dependencies and required libraries in order to run. It will be a few libraries, and not build-only dependencies, but at least the ones listed as run time. A few other ports may be needed too. No matter where you copy your files, so most of those should be from FreeBSD packages. User made files can be put into a custom directory like
/opt/,
/usr/opt/ or as you put them in your home directory.
Ports/Packages might be able to be used in conjunction with custom installs. With
ports-mgmt/portmaster, when you're depending on FreeBSD's Ports/Packages, you can set it to a combination of ports and packages, so it can build faster. There's an option to use ports for source which doesn't have a package, or to use packages only for build-only dependencies, or choose packages if a newer one exists.
Edited- clarified build time only dependencies not needed for copying to run the program, which is what I must have meant to write, so the sentence makes sense
