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Old 11th April 2010
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TerryP TerryP is offline
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: USofA
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Except for what you must actually compile and run the program for, many things can be found out by inspecting the files. For example the Makefile will tell you configuration data available (think make config and old knobs), pkg-plist and or Makefile the things contents (names of programs, manuals, paths, etc), and so on.


If you look at the dependencies declared in the Makefile you'll have an idea of what needs to be installed; special make targets can even give a more detailed list. Take a look at the ports manual page and the big kahunua in Mk for details.


How long crap actually takes to compile on your hardware, you kind of get a feel for after a while. For example, I know Firefox takes a good 2 1/2-3 hours to build on my laptop. Plus any dependencies.
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