pkgsrc on Linux, how to get started and distinguish packages from base system?

[spz%netbsd.org@localhost (S.P.Zeidler)]

How does one get started with pkgsrc on Linux, especially when starting with a minimal Linux?

NetBSD and other BSDs typically have a well-defined base system, but Linux does not usually.

In Linux, everything's a package, including the kernel and util-linux (not in pkgsrc).

You'd need much more than that just to bootstrap pkgsrc, and later there would be the issue of how to upgrade.

Non-rolling-release Linux distros would reinstall rather than update: not a full answer, since somebody somewhere has to build the packages and configuration files.

Tom