Bug 261765

Summary:	FAQ: ports: explain that there is no FreeBSD-provided human-readable list/index of all ports (or all packages) for any platform
Product:	Documentation	Reporter:	Graham Perrin <grahamperrin>
Component:	Books & Articles	Assignee:	Sergio Carlavilla Delgado <carlavilla>
Status:	Closed Overcome By Events
Severity:	Affects Some People	CC:	carlavilla, doc
Priority:	---
Version:	Latest
Hardware:	Any
OS:	Any
URL:	https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc
See Also:	https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=247998

Description Graham Perrin freebsd_committer

2022-02-07 08:26:40 UTC

Recently, under <https://forums.freebsd.org/posts/555115>: 

>> … if FreshPorts is giving a list of all the packages existing ? 
>> because I found only this "https://www.freshports.org/categories.php", 
>> but it would be better if there is a text file on GitHub or somewhere 
>> else with all available packages.

With bug 247998 there's no expectation of an official FreeBSD-provided index (or list) of this nature for any supported platform. My response in FreeBSD Forums:

> … I should not expect FreshPorts to provide anything like equivalent 
> indices or listings for the gamut of supported platforms.

Let's add a suitably worded paragraph to the book of frequently asked questions. I mean, it's not a terribly frequent question, however it _is_ an obvious thing for people to ask. Let's direct readers to the resource that will most likely meet a _comparable_ requirement. 

Two sentences might cover it. 

A plain English expression of the summary line of this bug report, plus where to go, and why. 

Plain English, then localised.

Comment 1 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer

2022-12-22 21:54:13 UTC

FAQ working group …

Comment 2 commit-hook freebsd_committer

2023-10-11 19:24:07 UTC

A commit in branch main references this bug:

URL: https://cgit.FreeBSD.org/doc/commit/?id=5ab16dfdedb053e126d7d175c6d3b94aa2bca286

commit 5ab16dfdedb053e126d7d175c6d3b94aa2bca286
Author:     Sergio Carlavilla Delgado <carlavilla@FreeBSD.org>
AuthorDate: 2023-10-11 18:42:03 +0000
Commit:     Sergio Carlavilla Delgado <carlavilla@FreeBSD.org>
CommitDate: 2023-10-11 19:23:16 +0000

    FAQ: Complete FAQ rewrite

    Complete rewrite of the FAQ is being carried out to offer a version
    agnostic to the FreeBSD version and some simple entries.

    The idea behind this rewrite has been to simplify the FAQ and make it
    more accessible.

    The FAQ is an entry point to FreeBSD, for more complete questions we
    have the Handbook.

    PR:                     266111, 263571, 273313, 273313, 261765, 248351, 261816
    Reviewed by:            acm@, ashish@, cc@, emaste, fernape@, linimon@
    Differential Revision:  https://reviews.freebsd.org/D41644
    Sponsored by:           Daifressh

 documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc | 3292 +++---------------------
 1 file changed, 337 insertions(+), 2955 deletions(-)