Peter Leftwich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On 1 Oct 2002, Gary W. Swearingen wrote: > > non-cvsup method 3: > > -- cd /usr/ports/<sub> > > fetch > > ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/branches/-current/ports/<sub>/port.tar > > tar -xf port.tar > > Note: Not all of the mirrors support tar-on-the-fly ftp transfers, but some >do, including the primary site. > > What is "tar-on-the-fly?" Case in point: > > # mkdir /usr/ports/java ; cd /usr/ports/java > # fetch ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/branches/-current/ports/java/jdk13.tar > fetch: jdk13.tar: File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access) > > I am losing faith in my abilities and am most certainly settling on a life > of /stand/sysinstall and `pkg_add -r` :-( Can someone offer me hope?
Sorry. I guess I shouldn't post my notes without editing out stuff I've just copied from somewhere else without ever trying. I suspect that tar-on-the-fly is what some ftp servers support when you ask for a tar file like xxx.tar when the server filesystem only has a directory xxx. It tars the xxx tree into xxx.tar and delivers it to you. Just guessing. Before fetching things, I usually pull up the ftp directory in my web browser and poke around. It could also be done with the "ftp" command. I just did (essentially) method 3 by using "ncftpget -R ftp://ftp....." on the port skeleton at the ftp site. There's nothing significant to be gained by getting the skeleton wrapped up in a tar file. To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message