To: freebsd-ports@_ERASE_freebsd.org
cc: portsmaster@_ERASE_freebsd.org
Subject: Automating make fetch URL selection
From: Julian Stacey <jhs@
Reply-To: Julian Stacey <jhs@

Problem:
  The present make fetch is a bit tedious, if you'r not in the
  part of the world where the Makefile expects to fetch first from...
  The make macros trundle through a list of URLs till one responds,
  & then make sits there slowly fetching, however slowly,
  even if the next URL in list would be much faster from your part of world.

Solution:
  If we now:
	- start appending byte size of files to ports/*/*/files/md5
	  (to end of each line in file)
	- Modify share/mk/ports.mk to (for now) ignore new file size info.
  Later (when we have sufficient extended */files to use it):
	- extend share/mk/ports.mk to supply a whole list of URLS
	  simultaneously to `fetch'
	- extend fetch (or write another small C front end program to fetch
	  with this functionality:
		- If files size < {~/.fetch value} ... trundle through
		  sequentially as before.
		- If file is Big IE greater than what you personally
		  choose to set in ~/.fetch:  be more intelligent,
		  do like traceroute does:  sniff the routes on the net
		  for response times, & fetch big files via the fastest route.

If we start appending size data soon, someone (even me maybe ;-) might write
the extra front end in next holidays, & then `make fetch` will be less painful
for (a) users, (B) user's ISP, (C) target site at top of list.

BTW I dropped off freebsd-ports@_ERASE_freebsd.org a while ago (overloaded),
so please cc me if you reply, else just grab idea, improve it & start.
All it needs right now is a few shell tweaks to ports.mk, but that's 
perhaps best left to the owner :-).

Julian
Julian H. Stacey