any use to build from source?

[Chuck Swiger]

Kai Grossjohann wrote:
> Charles Swiger <cswiger at mac.com> writes:
>> Oh, yes.  The first time you run into a problem and fix it yourself,
>> or make a change to the programs to add some feature that you want,
>> you will discover the serious advantages.
>>
>> However, if you never try to fix bugs or write code for yourself, then
>> you aren't going to gain nearly as much from using source compared
>> with using precompiled binaries.
> 
> How does one deal with local changes in the software when installing
> as a port?

One way is to put your local changes into files/patch-aa [1] using diff 
format.  Other times it's as simple as defining some environment variables by 
passing them into make, via /etc/make.conf, etc.

-- 
-Chuck

[1]: Choose whatever name seems appropriate, perhaps files/patch-src-file.c; 
the patch-aa naming convention works fine but is depricated.