Re: pkgin 0.5.1 now available in pkgsrc

[Anne Bennett <anne%porcupine.montreal.qc.ca@localhost>]

Aleksey Cheusov <cheusov%tut.by@localhost> responds to my query:

>> Also, at ftp.netbsd.org, /pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/i386/5.1 points
>> at 5.1_2011Q1 instead of 5.1_2011Q3, despite the fact that 4.0 and
>> 5.0 each point at a "2011Q3" directory.

> This is a well-known problem.
> See, http://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-pkg/2011/11/10/msg007941.html

... in which you wrote:

      Nobody runs 5.1 official bulk builds AFAIK due to lack of
      hardware.  This is why we still have binaries for Q1.

... and John Klos followed up on November 10:

      I'll have them up and running tonight.

Am I to understand that the latest stable pkgsrc version (2011Q3)
on the latest stable NetBSD (5.1) on the likely most widely used
architecture out there (i386) doesn't have binaries fully available?

I *really* don't want to come across as snarky or ungrateful; I've
been using NetBSD for years without contributing anything more than
the occasional bug report, so I'm very aware of being in debt to
many of the kind folks on this list.

That being admitted, administering my one tiny home desktop is
getting to be very frustrating, and a time expenditure that's hard
to justify.  :-(


> You can try pkgtools/nih :-)

Having just spent a few hours trying to learn to use one tool, I'm
not eager to repeat the experience immediately with another one,
especially in view of the fact that your best claim for nih over
pkgin (in nih/README) is the choice of language and database package
used to implement pkgin!  Not very persuasive IMHO.  And I actually
*like* that pkgin is just a layer on top of the built-in pkg_*
tools, and seems to cooperate with them fairly well so I can use
a bit of this and a bit of that without problem.

I'm sorry to seem so grumpy, but at this point I *am* pretty grumpy.
My SO dreads whenever it's time for me to upgrade my software;
apparently I turn into an ogre for the week-end.  So far he has
not persuaded me to switch to his beloved Slackware, but something
is going to have to give.  My desktop requirements are simple.
Spending this much time in system administration in what is supposed
to be my time off has to stop.

If I come up with a constructive suggestion, I'll let you all know. :-/

In the meantime, I started "pkg_chk -u -f -k", intending to just
fetch the material so I could replace the packages at my convenience,
but I misunderstood the manpage, and over 400 packages have been
deleted.  The program is now fetching them back, and I suppose will
reinstall them over the course of the next few days, if nothing
goes wrong.  Argh.  I'm now remembering why I switched to
pkg_rolling-replace at some point, only to decide that it was too
slow and redundant.  My last software upgrade was done by deleting
everything and installing it again manually.  Double Argh.  There
has to be a rational way to do this.

End of rant.


Anne.
-- 
Ms. Anne Bennett, as a private citizen:  anne%porcupine.montreal.qc.ca@localhost
Also reachable more officially at work:  anne%encs.concordia.ca@localhost