On BSD systems, the ports collection is simply a directory tree containing some fairly small text files. The various text files in a given port (subdirectory) i

On BSD systems, the ports collection is simply a directory tree containing some fairly small text files. The various text files in a given port (subdirectory) include Makefiles, patches, description files and checksums. When you run `make` in a port subdirectory, the target software source code is downloaded, patched, built, installed into a "fake" directory tree emulating a target system, and then finally all of the stuff it just installed is gathered up into a compressed "package" archive. In short, the ports are used to create packages. If you're new to BSD systems, it's much easier to use the pre-built packages. https://www.freebsd.org/ports/ https://www.freebsd.org/ports/ https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/ports-using.html https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/ports-using.html