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== Welcome to !HaikuPorts ==

!HaikuPorts is a centralized collection of software ported to the [http://www.haiku-os.org Haiku] platform. Each port contains the Haiku-specific patches to the original source code. Along with a [SubversionRepository Subversion repository] to store all patches, this Trac site eases cooperation on porting efforts. There is also a [MailingList mailing list] for the discussion of the project. The haikuporter tool is provided to ease the fetching, patching and building of source code.

== Objective ==

The main objective of the !HaikuPorts project is to centralize ports of software to the Haiku platform. This avoids reinvention of the wheel when the person that ported an older version of a software package didn't provide a patch and seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

More importantly, solutions to problems faced when porting one application may be valuable when porting another. For this purpose, the PortLog, Trac tickets and the CommonProblems page can be consulted when facing problems. To make this work, some [wiki:Guidelines] should be followed.

Haikuporter can be compared to a slim version of [http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml Gentoo Portage]. It fetches the original source code, applies the Haiku-specific patches, builds, and optionally installs the port. This package management aspect, however, is by no means the essence of the !HaikuPorts project.

== Platforms ==

Haiku has many API advantages over BeOS and Zeta, which includes but is not limited to better POSIX compatibility. These API advantages greatly improves the ease of porting software to Haiku. Due to this, it is unreasonable to expect software that compiles on Haiku to compile on BeOS or Zeta without additional effort. While BeOS R5, BONE, and Zeta are still of importance, focus has shifted to Haiku.

== Getting Started ==

To install the !HaikuPorts system on your Haiku installation, see [wiki:Installation].

For information on how to add a HaikuPort to the tree, see AddingPorts. Don't forget to read the [wiki:Guidelines]! Milestone [milestone:"HaikuPorts M1" M1] lists a set of the most common/important software packages. It is recommended (recent versions of) these are ported first.

== Downloads ==

Looking for pre-built binaries?  Check our [http://ports-space.haiku-files.org Downloads] page.

and

[http://ports.haiku-files.org/wiki/LibPak LibPak]

== Useful Pages ==

 * SubversionRepository
 * MailingList 
 * [wiki:Guidelines]
 * PortingTips
 * FindDirectory
 * CommonProblems
 * PortLog
 * LibVersions
 * [wiki:Installation]
 * JoinHaikuPorts
 * AddingPorts
 * [wiki:CreatePatch]
 * HaikuPorter
 * ToDo