Editing Portal:FreeBSD,OpenBSD,etc (section)

=== NetBSD and pkgsrc ===

'''NetBSD''' has a different Perl story. NetBSD is strongly associated with portability, and its package system, '''pkgsrc''', became one of the most portable package systems in the Unix world.

pkgsrc describes itself as a framework for managing third-party software on Unix-like systems, containing more than 26,000 packages. It is the default package manager of NetBSD and SmartOS and can also be used on many other Unix-like systems. The pkgsrc site notes that NetBSD already contains the necessary tools for using pkgsrc, while other platforms need to bootstrap pkgsrc first.<ref>pkgsrc, “The pkgsrc package management system,” https://www.pkgsrc.org/, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

Perl is available in pkgsrc as `lang/perl5`. The current pkgsrc page describes Perl as a general-purpose programming language originally developed for text manipulation and lists the current source version as `perl-5.42.2nb3`.<ref>NetBSD Packages Collection, “lang/perl5,” https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc/lang/perl5/index.html, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

pkgsrc also contains many Perl module packages, traditionally named with a `p5-` prefix. For example, `devel/p5-Module-Runtime` and `devel/p5-IPC-Run` are typical pkgsrc Perl-module packages.<ref>NetBSD Packages Collection, “devel/p5-Module-Runtime,” https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/pkgsrc/devel/p5-Module-Runtime/index.html, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref><ref>NetBSD Packages Collection, “devel/p5-IPC-Run,” https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc/devel/p5-IPC-Run/index.html, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

NetBSD’s Perl story is therefore less about Perl being a base-system scripting language and more about Perl as a first-class pkgsrc citizen. Perl and CPAN modules are packaged, built across architectures, and made available through the same framework that supports thousands of other packages.