<s>
The	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
Ports	B-Application
collection	I-Application
is	O
a	O
package	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
for	O
the	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
adopted	O
by	O
NetBSD	B-Device
as	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
its	O
pkgsrc	B-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ports	B-Application
collection	I-Application
uses	O
Makefiles	O
arranged	O
in	O
a	O
directory	B-Architecture
hierarchy	I-Architecture
so	O
that	O
software	O
can	O
be	O
built	O
,	O
installed	B-Application
and	O
uninstalled	O
with	O
the	O
make	O
command	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
installing	O
an	O
application	B-Application
,	O
very	O
little	O
(	O
if	O
any	O
)	O
user	O
intervention	O
is	O
required	O
after	O
issuing	O
a	O
beginning	O
command	O
such	O
as	O
make	O
install	O
or	O
make	O
install	O
clean	O
in	O
the	O
ports	O
directory	O
of	O
the	O
desired	O
application	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
most	O
cases	O
the	O
software	O
is	O
automatically	O
downloaded	O
from	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
patched	O
and	O
configured	B-Device
if	O
necessary	O
,	O
then	O
compiled	B-Language
,	O
installed	B-Application
and	O
registered	O
in	O
the	O
package	B-Application
database	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
new	O
port	O
has	O
needed	O
dependencies	O
on	O
other	O
applications	O
or	O
libraries	O
,	O
these	O
are	O
installed	B-Application
beforehand	O
automatically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
ports	O
are	O
already	O
configured	B-Device
with	O
default	B-General_Concept
options	I-General_Concept
which	O
have	O
been	O
deemed	O
generally	O
appropriate	O
for	O
most	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
these	O
configuration	O
options	O
(	O
called	O
knobs	O
)	O
can	O
sometimes	O
be	O
changed	O
before	O
installation	B-Application
using	O
the	O
make	O
config	O
command	O
,	O
which	O
brings	O
up	O
a	O
text-based	O
interface	O
that	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
select	O
the	O
desired	O
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Historically	O
,	O
each	O
port	O
(	O
or	O
software	B-Application
package	I-Application
)	O
has	O
been	O
maintained	O
by	O
an	O
individual	O
port	O
maintainer	O
who	O
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
ensuring	O
the	O
currency	O
of	O
the	O
port	O
and	O
providing	O
general	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
kde@FreeBSD.org	O
,	O
java@FreeBSD.org	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
)	O
,	O
while	O
unmaintained	O
ports	O
are	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
generic	O
group	O
ports@FreeBSD.org	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
package	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
from	O
the	O
corresponding	O
port	O
with	O
the	O
make	O
package	O
command	O
;	O
pre-built	O
packages	O
are	O
also	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
from	O
FreeBSD-hosted	O
package	O
repositories	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
downloads	O
the	O
appropriate	O
package	O
for	O
the	O
installed	B-Application
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
release	O
version	O
,	O
then	O
installs	O
the	O
application	B-Application
,	O
including	O
any	O
software	O
dependencies	O
it	O
may	O
have	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
packages	O
are	O
downloaded	O
from	O
the	O
main	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
Package	O
Repository	B-General_Concept
(	O
pkg.freebsd.org	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
if	O
there	O
are	O
any	O
troubles	O
after	O
updating	O
packages	O
,	O
previous	O
version	O
of	O
packages	O
cannot	O
be	O
installed	B-Application
because	O
the	O
repository	B-General_Concept
denies	O
subfolders	O
indexes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
maintains	O
a	O
build	B-Operating_System
farm	I-Operating_System
called	O
the	O
pointyhat	O
cluster	O
in	O
which	O
all	O
packages	O
for	O
all	O
supported	O
architectures	B-General_Concept
and	O
major	O
releases	O
are	O
built	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
build	O
logs	B-Application
and	O
known	O
errors	O
for	O
all	O
ports	O
built	O
into	O
packages	O
through	O
the	O
pointyhat	O
cluster	O
are	O
available	O
in	O
a	O
database	O
and	O
weekly	O
builds	O
logs	B-Application
are	O
also	O
available	O
through	O
mailing	O
list	O
archives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
pre-compiled	O
packages	O
are	O
separated	O
into	O
categories	O
by	O
the	O
architectures	B-General_Concept
for	O
which	O
they	O
are	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Packages	O
are	O
further	O
separated	O
into	O
several	O
"	O
release	O
"	O
directories	O
,	O
one	O
for	O
each	O
current	O
production	O
release	O
built	O
from	O
the	O
ports	B-Application
collection	I-Application
and	O
shipped	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
most	O
cases	O
a	O
package	O
created	O
for	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
installed	B-Application
and	O
used	O
on	O
a	O
newer	O
system	O
without	O
difficulty	O
since	O
binary	O
backward	O
compatibility	O
across	O
major	O
releases	O
is	O
enabled	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
packaging	O
system	O
for	O
binary	O
packages	O
called	O
pkg	O
has	O
replaced	O
the	O
package	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
in	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jordan	O
Hubbard	O
committed	O
his	O
port	O
make	O
macros	O
to	O
the	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
CVS	O
repository	B-General_Concept
on	O
August	O
21	O
,	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NetBSD	B-Application
's	I-Application
pkgsrc	I-Application
and	O
OpenBSD	O
's	O
ports	B-Application
collection	I-Application
trace	O
their	O
roots	O
to	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
its	O
release	O
,	O
3.6	O
DragonFly	B-Application
BSD	I-Application
project	O
uses	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
Ports	O
as	O
a	O
base	O
for	O
its	O
own	O
DPorts	B-Application
ports	B-Application
collection	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Marino	O
of	O
DragonFly	B-Application
BSD	I-Application
project	O
created	O
DeltaPorts	O
repository	B-General_Concept
–	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
patches	O
and	O
files	O
that	O
overlay	O
and	O
modify	O
the	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
Ports	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
generate	O
DPorts	B-Application
.	O
</s>
