Pkgsrc
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The NetBSD package system, pkgsrc (package source), is a framework based on a system of Makefiles for building third-party software on NetBSD and other UNIX-like operating systems from source code. It is used to enable such software to be automatically patched, configured, compiled and installed on the supported platforms.
Once the software has been built, the resulting binary packages are manipulated with the pkg_* tools, so that tasks such as installation and de-installation, printing of an inventory of all installed packages or retrieval of one-line comments or more verbose descriptions are all simple.
pkgsrc currently contains over 6000 packages, including popular open source software such as:
- www/apache - The Apache HTTP Server
- www/mozilla - The Mozilla web browser
- meta-pkgs/gnome - The GNOME Desktop Environment
- meta-pkgs/kde3 - The K Desktop Environment
pkgsrc has built-in support for handling dependencies on third-party libraries and other packages, such as pthreads or the X Window System, and extended features such as IPv6 support on a range of platforms.
Originally derived from the earlier FreeBSD "Ports Collection" package system, pkgsrc first appeared in NetBSD 1.3, released in January 1998.
Pkgsrc supports the following platforms:
- AIX
- BSD/OS
- Darwin (Mac OS X)
- DragonFly BSD
- FreeBSD
- GNU/Hurd (unofficial, but works)
- GNU/Linux
- HP-UX
- IRIX
- Microsoft Windows, via Interix
- NetBSD
- OpenBSD
- OpenServer
- QNX
- Solaris
- SunOS
- Tru64 (Digital UNIX, OSF/1)
- UnixWare
Since their 1.4 release, DragonFly BSD also uses pkgsrc as their official packaging system (announcement).
External links
- Official page
- A nice web interface for pkgsrc
- http://pkgsrc-wip.sourceforge.net/ – Project to get more people actively involved with pkgsrc
- pkgsrc-wip statistics
- pkgsrcCon: An annual conference focusing on pkgsrc