Title: Search in OpenBSD packages with openports.pl
Author: Solène
Date: 21 October 2022
Tags: openbsd
Description:
# Intro
This blog post aims to be a quick clarification about the website
openports.pl: an online database that could be used to search for
OpenBSD packages and ports available in -current.
HTML openports.pl website
# The setup
The software used by openports.pl is the package ports-readmes-dancer
which uses the sqlite database from the sqlports package.
The host is running OpenBSD -current through snapshots, it tries twice
a day to upgrade when possible, and regularly try to upgrade all
packages, so it's as fresh as it can be through snapshots.
# What does this mean?
The data displayed on openports.pl are accurate because it's directly
derived from packages by packaged software you can run on your local
system.
# Sponsor
While I manage this website, the system is hosted at OpenBSD.Amsterdam
for free 🙏 and they also pay for the domain name.
HTML OpenBSD Amsterdam official website
The program packaged in ports-readmes-dancer has been created by
espie@, it's using a Perl web framework named Dancer. It's open source
software and you can contribute to it if you want to enhance
openports.pl itself
HTML ports-readmes-dancer GitHub project page
For security reasons, as it's running "too much" unaudited code server
side, it's not possible to host it in the OpenBSD infrastructure under
the domain .openbsd.org.
# Reliable alternatives
The main alternative is OpenBSD.app, a website but also a command line
tool, using sqlports package as a data source, and it supports -stable
and -current.
HTML OpenBSD.app
I wrote a GUI application named AppManager (the package name is
appmanager) that allows to view all packages available for the running
OpenBSD version, and install/remove them. It also has surprisingly
effective heuristic to tell if search results are GUI/CLI/other
programs.
HTML Blog post about AppManager