About FreeBSD Packages Collection

FreeBSD provides precompiled and packaged binary application packages on the size of G bytes that can be installed for immediate use. In the software package, not only the contents of binary software are recorded, but also include the installation location of these software, the description information of the package, and the dependencies between packages, the mechanism of this kind of management software is called Packages Collection. These packages, usually provided by the installation media, are located in the packages directory on the installation media and can be easily installed and uninstalled using the installer Sysinstall. (due to space limitations, all packages are not included on the installation CD, can be downloaded from the Internet, and the third of the FreeBSD discs released by Walnet Creek includes a large number of precompiled packages).

Under FreeBSD, each precompiled package is a compressed file that is packaged with tar and gzip, preceded by the name of this package (including the version number) in the file name, and using the tgz suffix, For example, the package file for the Navigator browser is netscape-navigator-4.07.tgz.

Use root to execute Sysinstall, and then select the Packages option in the Configure menu item, the system will display the corresponding menu options according to the different application categories, each of which corresponds to a class of application software, including all available applications.

The software is also placed in the different storage subdirectories of the packages directory in the installation media, and the subdirectory and menu options are one by one corresponding.

# ls -l /cdrom/packages
All　　　　　converters　 kde　　 print　　　x11
INDEX　　　　databases　　lang　　security　 x11-fonts
Latest　　　 deskutils　　mail　　shells　　 x11-toolkits
archivers　　devel　　　　math　　sysutils　 x11-wm
audio　　　　editors　　　misc　　tcl81
benchmarks　 emulators　　net　　 textproc
chinese　　　gnome　　　　news　　tk81
comms　　　　graphics　　 perl5　 www

If you enter a kind of submenu, you can see that the installed software has an "X" tag, you can use the space bar to select this installed software, the system will immediately uninstall the software. Or select a software that is not installed, but do not install the software immediately, but wait until all the packages you want to install are selected, then go back to the Superior menu and select "Install" button to start the installation.