How to INSTALL the packages of a FreeBSD version (11-RELEASE) went EOL.

[forquare]

Why in Linux the last state that works does have everything included including the packages ? Can't FreeBSD do the same ?

I suspect this statement isn't true for all Linux distributions, but it really wouldn't surprise me if distributions backed by large companies (Red Hat, Canonical) or base distributions that large companies rely on (Debian) kept packages around for a very long time to satisfy corporate customers.

FreeBSD doesn't have the backing of a huge company. Sure some large companies use FreeBSD, and some contribute. But given how mature the Ports framework is, and how easy the tooling is to build your own packages, I'm not sure how important recent packages are to large donors let alone very old packages.

I'd wager that the people that care about very old packages and don't maintain their own package repository are unlikely to donate a significant sum of money for FreeBSD to maintain the amount of disk space to store old packages, or maintain ageing technology (e.g. maintain certificates in a manor that is secure while being compatible with old versions of pkg(8) or imagine if pkg(8) switched from HTTPS to something else, the old HTTPS delivery mechanism would need to be maintained).

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… this manpage

Which one?

pkg.conf(5) in ports looks OK, at a glance:

<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=pkg.conf&sektion=5&manpath=freebsd-ports> (now, for FreeBSD Ports 14.0)

and also pkg(7) itself still specify .txz as the extensions …

<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=pkg&sektion=7&manpath=freebsd-release>

Please make a report for FreeBSD base: <https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Base System>, thanks. Also note that the CONFIGURATION part of the page is outdated, I might make a PR at <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/pulls>; we can spin off to a separate topic to discuss.

 

[YYY__]

Do you mean the change in naming package extensions?

Yes.

[aside: you had the following text in an unlabeled box that disappeared when quoted; I've had to cutnpaste it back here. How did you create that box?]

?‍
Copy/paste from web, select all lines and quoted. Again:

COMPRESSION_FORMAT: string
Set the default compression format: tzst, txz (default),
tbz, tar. Default: per pkg developers.

(Quotations are not re-quoted)

This is unfortunate, in that it refers to the compression format which is indeed txz (xz compressed tar archive), but the extension of pkg's files was changed from .txz to .pkg sometime before 12.3-RELEASE, yet this manpage and also pkg(7) itself still specify .txz as the extensions in the synopsis!

The source of the confusion.

 

[smithi]

Which one?

pkg.conf(5) in ports looks OK, at a glance:

<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=pkg.conf&sektion=5&manpath=freebsd-ports> (now, for FreeBSD Ports 14.0)

Yeah. Weird it's under Ports, but that's the rationale. I'd searched 'x.y-RELEASE and Ports' or I'd have missed it.

Yes it's ok as it only refers to the compression format, not to the filename extensions.

And pkg(8) doesn't mention either .txz or .pkg

<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=pkg&sektion=7&manpath=freebsd-release>

Please make a report for FreeBSD base: <https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=Base System>, thanks.

It just needs a note like "NB: extension .txz is now .pkg" added to the 'pkg add' option.

Also note that the CONFIGURATION part of the page is outdated, I might make a PR at <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/pulls>; we can spin off to a separate topic to discuss.

Sorry, I'm underwater already and having a COVID booster today so may be indisposed for a week. You go ahead ...

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… Weird it's under Ports, but that's the rationale. …

pkg(7) is integral to FreeBSD, not in the ports tree.

pkg(8) is in the ports tree, not integral to FreeBSD.

From the description of pkg(7):

… the actual pkg(8) tool is not installed in the base system. The first time invoked, pkg will bootstrap the real pkg(8) from a remote repository. …

From man(1):

1. FreeBSD General Commands Manual
2. FreeBSD System Calls Manual
3. FreeBSD Library Functions Manual
4. FreeBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual
5. FreeBSD File Formats Manual
6. FreeBSD Games Manual
7. FreeBSD Miscellaneous Information Manual
8. FreeBSD System Manager's Manual
9. FreeBSD Kernel Developer's Manual

Whilst section 7 is not a perfect fit, it is essential to distinguish between:

• the page for the pkg that's integral to FreeBSD
• the page for the real pkg.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

I might make a PR

I made two PRs. Both previewed at <https://forums.freebsd.org/posts/630109>.

 

[ZioMario]

Can someone help me to find this file : git-1.8.4.3.tar.gz ? I'm trying to install the git port on FreeBSD 10. This is the link broken :

ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/distfiles/git-1.8.4.3.tar.gz

very thanks.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

git-1.8.4.3.tar.gz

<https://github.com/git/git/releases/tag/v1.8.4.3>