package vs ports question

[Duane Whitty]

Huy Ton That wrote:
> I am curious, the key different between packages and ports are that packages
> are precompiled and ports are not?  Am I erroneous in this statement?  I'm a
> little confused as I have been always using make install clean from the
> ports and don't see the difference...  Has anyone else had the same
> question?
>
> -Lee
> _________________
>   
Hi,

Your best bet is to read the handbook section
on packages and ports.  To answer your question
though, yes packages are pre-built and ports need
to be compiled, linked, etc from sources.

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

--Duane