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Old 3rd October 2008
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harisman harisman is offline
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Hellas (Greece)
Posts: 66
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Both installation ways have pros and cons:

Packages Pros:
- You save the total compilation time of the actual program and their depended ones.
- Packages are consisted and work very well.

Packages Cons:
- You accept the default compile options and some times you miss desired features of the program.
- Unneeded depended applications will be installed as well.
- The packages have older versions than those of ports.

Ports Pros:
- You can configure the program's build options and you can build it optimized for your cpu types.
- Unneeded depended programs may be avoided.
- The ports system offers up to date software.

Ports Cons:
- Compilation some times takes a lot of time to complete, even on a fast machine.
- Building process might be stopped due to some compilation errors or missing source files on the main program or the depended ones.

Despite the system allows you to mix both ports and packages programs, I suggest you to pick one way and keep using it exclusively.

I personally prefer the ports system because I have a fast a machine and I want to have control of the building and installation process.

It's up to you to decide which one fits you.

Last edited by harisman; 3rd October 2008 at 01:47 PM.
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