FreeBSD verbose package installation
SoftwareIf you're a real FreeBSD nerd you'd know about this already, but for those like me who are just experimenting maybe you'll find this useful.
If you find yourself installing packages a lot (say, KDE… ever tried compiling that from scratch? Wow!) and your internet connection isn't terribly reliable, if you enable to verbose output in the pkg_add command you can see exactly where the FreeBSD package manager is retrieving the files from and the success rate of transfers.
# pkg_add -rv NAME_OF_PACKAGE
That way, if something goes wrong you can see exactly where it failed. Haven't had to do this when I'm in Singapore but when I'm transferring using TMnet StreamyX here in Malaysia or the TPG broadband in Australia, it really makes things clearer.
As an added bonus as well, if you're doing this full screen on a desktop with code and transfer status lines flying across the screen in a green font, it looks as though you're in The Matrix. Swish.
