FreeBSD Ports -- References
To start learning more about ports and packages, see Installing Applications: Packages and Ports, a section of the FreeBSD Handbook.
The Porter's Handbook is the master reference for both creating new ports and maintaining existing ports, including a section on Keeping Up. It also contains more detail about the topics below, as well as more references for further study.
You may also find the following to be useful:
- The archives of the FreeBSD ports mailing list.
- The article Contributing to the FreeBSD Ports Collection.
- FreshPorts.org is a valuable tool for further information about individual ports, such as current version, last checkin, and many other useful statistics. You may subscribe to a mailing list to get the latest information about your favorite ports.
- The manual pages for ftp, pkg_add, and ports.
- The ports and packages build cluster.
- The Ports Management Team (portmgr) pages.
- The Web Interface to the Source Repository allows you to browse the files in the source repository. Changes that affect the entire port system are now documented in the CHANGES file. Changes that affect individual ports are now documented in the UPDATING file. However, the definitive answer to any question is undoubtedly to read the source code of bsd.port.mk, and associated files.