Solved Ports without make config

Fabien

Fabien

Hi,

Is that worth compiling a ports without tuning it with # make config? Will the binary be the same as # pkg install?

I can't find answers to this.

Have a nice day!

Fabien
 
The official packages are built using the default options. If you don't want/need to deviate from the defaults there's nothing to gain by building from ports.
 
Thank you SirDice,

Let say that I have a perfect knowledge :rolleyes: of all the options of a given port. Now I check out all the options I don't need, will my system be faster or more efficient in any ways?

Sorry for the noobiness...
 
That's going to depend heavily on the port itself. Most of the time you're only enabling/disabling features and those typically have little influence (unless a feature enables extra processing or something to that extend).
 
I believe all you really gain from this is changing the dependencies installed by certain port options. For example, in my port builds, I unset pulseaudio and a few other options. This software will never be installed on my system because I build ports without it.

So as for efficiency, you may save disc space, plus what SirDice just mentioned.
 
Thanks to both of you.

Are all the options listed and explained somewhere in a port?
 
Definitely not always. Some options are rather obscure even and you really have to know what you're doing. And some options have a tendency to create endless loops (port A depends on port B and port B depends on port A).
 
Fabien said:
Are all the options listed and explained somewhere in a port?
Click to expand...
Just type make showconfig in the port's directory. You can also use make config to enter the configuration dialog (which sometimes provides more information than showconfig, and press Esc to exit without changing the options.

By the way, there are certain cases where disabling options is really worth it. For example, I sometimes use the links program (it's a text-mode web browser, better than lynx). It also has an option for graphics support (X11) so it can display inline images – this option is enabled by default, so the pre-built package pulls a plethora of X11-related dependencies. On headless servers that don't require X11 at all, I build the links port with X11-support disabled. This really makes a huge difference.

Of course, there are is also the opposite case. One example is the mplayer video player. It has an option to enable the RTMP protocol for streaming video, and another option to enable OpenJPEG support. Both are disabled by default, so the pre-build package doesn't have it. If I want these features, I have to build the port myself with the options enabled.
 
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