Ports tree
From FreeBSDwiki
The ports tree is commonly located in "/usr/ports/". It is composed of a two level directory structure containg a few files. Each application has it own directory, for example, vim is located in "/editors/vim" from the root of the port directory, so commonly, "/usr/ports/editors/vim" from the root of the system.
Each directory contains a few files:
- Makefile: Used for compiling ports.
- distinfo: Contains informations on the files needed to install (To check their integrity).
- pkg-descr: This file describes what the port is.
- pkg-plist: This file lists the binaries installed by the port.
- An optional files folder: Patches the port will apply to the standard source code before compilation; may be either to add features or reconfigure the port to install itself in BSD-centric directory format.
Dependencies
You have nothing to do while installing: dependencies are automaticaly installed. But this is *NOT* done while uninstalling (uninstalling a port will not deinstall the other that need it), so you shall not deinstall port directly in the port tree. Instead, use pkg_deinstall.
See also Ports,_Installing, Ports_Tree,_Updating.