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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Blog post about AppManager