Change COMMENT handling:

COMMENTs are now a variable in the Makefile instead of a pkg/COMMENT
file. The COMMENT var should be in the maintainer block after the
homepage.
Modify bsd.pkg.mk, pkglint, url2pkg, and port2pkg (last one untested)
for the new behaviour. Document new state in Packages.txt.
This should save lots of inodes, and lots of time when untarring/updating.
Idea by Alistair Crooks.
For the time being, accept pkg/COMMENT instead of a COMMENT var to avoid
a flag day.

9 files changed, 117 insertions, 104 deletions

diff --git a/Packages.txt b/Packages.txt
index 599b66c36e3..b97f9e94312 100644
--- a/Packages.txt
+++ b/Packages.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# $NetBSD: Packages.txt,v 1.139 2001/02/09 14:48:39 agc Exp $
+# $NetBSD: Packages.txt,v 1.140 2001/02/16 13:06:17 wiz Exp $
 ###########################################################################
 
 			==========================
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ which user to su(8) to to do a 'cvs update'.
  ========================================
 
 Drop your favourite login shell in /usr/local, or install it from
-/etc/rc.local. Also, if you use a OS version below 1.5 or stil want
+/etc/rc.local. Also, if you use a OS version below 1.5 or you still want
 to use the pkgsrc version of ssh for some reason, be sure to install 
 ssh before starting it from rc.local:
 
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ The bulk builds consist of three steps:
 	that report will also be mailed to the build's admin.
 
 During the build, a list of broken packages will be compiled in
-.usr/pkgsrc/.broken  (or .../.broken.${MACHINE} if OBJMACHINE is set),
+/usr/pkgsrc/.broken  (or .../.broken.${MACHINE} if OBJMACHINE is set),
 individual build logs of broken builds can be found in the package's
 directory. These files are used by the bulk-targets to mark broken builds
 to not waste time trying to rebuild them, and they can be used to debug
@@ -452,9 +452,11 @@ itself. The mandatory fields are the DISTNAME which specifies the base name
 of the distribution file to be downloaded from the site on the Internet,
 MASTER_SITES which specifies that site, CATEGORIES which denotes the
 categories into which the package falls, PKGNAME which is the name of the
-package and the MAINTAINER name. This is so that anyone who quibbles with
-the (always completely correct) decisions taken by the guy who maintains
-the port can complain vigorously.
+package, the MAINTAINER name, and the COMMENT variable, which should
+contain a one-line description of the package (the package name should not
+appear, it will be added automatically). The maintainer variable is there
+so that anyone who quibbles with the (always completely correct) decisions
+taken by the guy who maintains the port can complain vigorously.
 
 The MASTER_SITES may be set to one of the predefined sites:
 
@@ -479,18 +481,15 @@ MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR will not work.
 Currently the following values are available for CATEGORIES. If more than
 one is used, they need to be separated by spaces:
 
-        archivers      devel          math           shells
-        audio          editors        mbone          sysutils
-        benchmarks     emulators      meta-pkgs      templates
-        biology        finance        misc           textproc
-        cad            fonts          net            time
-        chat           games          news           wm
-        comms          graphics       parallel       www
-        converters     ham            pkgtools       x11
-        corba          japanese       plan9
-        cross          lang           print
-        databases      mail           security
-  
+       archivers  audio      benchmarks   biology       cad     
+       chat       comms      converters   cross         databases
+       devel      editors    emulators    finance       fonts
+       games      graphics   ham          japanese      lang
+       mail       math       mbone        misc          net
+       news       parallel   print        security      shells
+       sysutils   textproc   time         wm            www
+       x11
+
 See the NetBSD packages(7) manual page for a description of all available
 options and variables.
 
@@ -535,6 +534,12 @@ package from the FreeBSD ports collection:
  - If there exists a home page for the software in question, please
    add the variable HOMEPAGE right after MAINTAINER. The value of this
    variable should be the URL for the home page.
+ - Please also set the COMMENT variable to a short description of the
+   package.
+
+ port2pkg (pkgsrc/pkgtools/port2pkg) does many of the mentioned steps
+ for you -- operator discretion is advised, though.
+
 
  4.2 files/*
  ===========
@@ -621,11 +626,6 @@ witticisms.
  4.4.1 Mandatory files
  =====================
 
- * pkg/COMMENT:
-   A one-line description of the piece of software. There is no need to
-   mention the package's name - this will automatically be added by the
-   pkg_* tools when they are invoked.
-
  * pkg/DESCR:
    A multi-line description of the piece of software.  This should include
    any credits where they are due.  Please bear in mind that others do not
@@ -670,8 +670,13 @@ which does a lot of the donkey work for you.
 
  * pkg/MESSAGE
    Display this file after installation of the package.
-   Useful for things like legal notices on almost-free software,
-   etc.
+   Useful for things like legal notices on almost-free software, etc.
+   Please note that you can modify variables in it easily by using
+   MESSAGE_SUBST in the package's Makefile:
+	MESSAGE_SUBST+=  SOMEVAR="somevalue"
+   replaces
+	${SOMEVAR}
+   in pkg/MESSAGE with "somevalue" before displaying the message.
 
 
  4.5 scripts/*
@@ -1771,7 +1776,7 @@ You have to separate between binary and "normale" (source) packages here:
    package maintainers can fetch it using FTP or HTTP (WWW). Finally,
    send-pr with category "pkg", a synopsis which includes the package name
    and version number, a short description of your package
-   (contents of pkg/COMMENT are OK) and the URL of your tar-file.
+   (contents of the COMMENT variable are OK) and the URL of your tar-file.
 
    You will be notified if your send-pr has been addressed so you can remove
    the tar-file. 
@@ -1843,6 +1848,7 @@ The file contents in this section must be used without the "> " prefix.
 >
 > MAINTAINER=     thorpej@netbsd.org
 > HOMEPAGE=       http://www.gnu.org/software/bison/bison.html
+> COMMENT=        GNU yacc clone
 >  
 > GNU_CONFIGURE=  yes
 > INFO_FILES=     bison.info
@@ -1850,13 +1856,7 @@ The file contents in this section must be used without the "> " prefix.
 > .include "../../mk/bsd.pkg.mk"
 
 
- 11.1.2 pkg/COMMENT
- ==================
-
-> GNU yacc clone.
-
-
- 11.1.3 pkg/DESCR
+ 11.1.2 pkg/DESCR
  ================
 
 > GNU version of yacc.  Can make re-entrant parsers, and numerous other
@@ -1864,7 +1864,7 @@ The file contents in this section must be used without the "> " prefix.
 > of the NetBSD source tree is beyond me.
 
 
- 11.1.4 pkg/PLIST
+ 11.1.3 pkg/PLIST
  ================
 
 > @comment <$>NetBSD<$>
@@ -1882,16 +1882,15 @@ The file contents in this section must be used without the "> " prefix.
 > share/bison.hairy
 
 
- 11.1.5 Checking a package "pkglint"
+ 11.1.4 Checking a package "pkglint"
  ===================================
 
 The NetBSD package system comes with a tool called "pkglint" (located in the
 directory "pkgsrc/pkgtools/pkglint") which helps to check the contents of these
 files. After installation it is quite easy to use, just change to the
-directory of the package you which to examine and execute "pkglint":
+directory of the package you wish to examine and execute "pkglint":
 
 > tron@lyssa:/usr/pkgsrc/devel/bison>pkglint
-> OK: checking pkg/COMMENT.
 > OK: checking pkg/DESCR.
 > OK: checking Makefile.
 > OK: checking files/md5.
@@ -1899,8 +1898,8 @@ directory of the package you which to examine and execute "pkglint":
 > looks fine.
 
 Depending on the supplied command line arguments (see "man pkglint") more
-intensive checks will be performed. Use e.g. "pkglint -a -v" for a very
-detailed and verbose check.
+verbose checks will be performed. Use e.g. "pkglint -v" for a very verbose
+check.
 
 
  11.2 Steps for building, installing, packaging
@@ -1913,7 +1912,7 @@ Create the directory where the package lives, plus any auxiliary directories:
 > root@pumpy:/u/pkgsrc/lang(1766)# cd bison
 > root@pumpy:/u/pkgsrc/lang/bison(1768)# mkdir files patches pkg
 
-Create Makefile, pkg/COMMENT, pkg/DESCR and pkg/PLIST as in section 11.1,
+Create Makefile, pkg/DESCR and pkg/PLIST as in section 11.1,
 then continue with fetching the distfile:
 
 > root@pumpy:/u/pkgsrc/lang/bison(1769)# make fetch
@@ -1983,10 +1982,7 @@ Now compile:
 > cc -c -DSTDC_HEADERS=1 -DHAVE_STRING_H=1 -DHAVE_STDLIB_H=1 -DHAVE_MEMORY_H=1 -DHAVE_ALLOCA=1 -DHAVE_STRERROR=1 -I./../include  -g version.c
 > cc -c -DSTDC_HEADERS=1 -DHAVE_STRING_H=1 -DHAVE_STDLIB_H=1 -DHAVE_MEMORY_H=1 -DHAVE_ALLOCA=1 -DHAVE_STRERROR=1 -I./../include  -g getopt.c
 > cc -c -DSTDC_HEADERS=1 -DHAVE_STRING_H=1 -DHAVE_STDLIB_H=1 -DHAVE_MEMORY_H=1 -DHAVE_ALLOCA=1 -DHAVE_STRERROR=1 -I./../include  -g getopt1.c
-> cc  -g -o bison LR0.o allocate.o closure.o conflicts.o derives.o files.o         getargs.o gram.o lalr.o lex.o                                   main.o nullable.o output.o print.o reader.o reduce.o symtab.o   warshall.o version.o                        
-
-
-                    getopt.o getopt1.o  
+> cc  -g -o bison LR0.o allocate.o closure.o conflicts.o derives.o files.o         getargs.o gram.o lalr.o lex.o                                   main.o nullable.o output.o print.o reader.o reduce.o symtab.o   warshall.o version.o getopt.o getopt1.o
 > ./files.c:240: warning: mktemp() possibly used unsafely, consider using mkstemp()
 > rm -f bison.s1
 > sed -e "/^#line/ s|bison|/usr/pkg/share/bison|" < ./bison.simple > bison.s1
@@ -2123,7 +2119,7 @@ Layout for precompiled binary packages on ftp.netbsd.org:
                 README
                 distfiles/
 		pkgsrc -> /pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/pkgsrc
-                1.3/
+                1.5/
                         i386/
                                 All/
                                 archivers/
diff --git a/mk/bsd.pkg.mk b/mk/bsd.pkg.mk
index c557fdc4600..5c3d5792754 100644
--- a/mk/bsd.pkg.mk
+++ b/mk/bsd.pkg.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#	$NetBSD: bsd.pkg.mk,v 1.662 2001/02/15 13:49:04 agc Exp $
+#	$NetBSD: bsd.pkg.mk,v 1.663 2001/02/16 13:06:18 wiz Exp $
 #
 # This file is in the public domain.
 #
@@ -467,7 +467,11 @@ SCRIPTS_ENV+=	${INSTALL_MACROS}
 .undef NO_PACKAGE
 .endif
 
-COMMENT?=		${PKGDIR}/COMMENT
+.if !defined(COMMENT)
+# ${CAT} isn't defined yet at the time this part gets executed
+COMMENT!=	(/bin/cat ${PKGDIR}/COMMENT || /usr/bin/cat ${PKGDIR}/COMMENT || echo -n "(no description)")  2>/dev/null
+.endif
+
 DESCR=			${WRKDIR}/.DESCR
 DESCR_SRC?=		${PKGDIR}/DESCR
 PLIST=			${WRKDIR}/.PLIST
@@ -716,8 +720,8 @@ SIZE_PKG_FILE=		${WRKDIR}/.SizePkg
 SIZE_ALL_FILE=		${WRKDIR}/.SizeAll
 
 .ifndef PKG_ARGS_COMMON
-PKG_ARGS_COMMON=	-v -c ${COMMENT} -d ${DESCR} -f ${PLIST} -l
-PKG_ARGS_COMMON+=	-b ${BUILD_VERSION_FILE} -B ${BUILD_INFO_FILE}
+PKG_ARGS_COMMON=	-v -c -"${COMMENT:S/"/\"/g:S/`/\`/g} " -d ${DESCR} -f ${PLIST}
+PKG_ARGS_COMMON+=	-l -b ${BUILD_VERSION_FILE} -B ${BUILD_INFO_FILE}
 PKG_ARGS_COMMON+=	-s ${SIZE_PKG_FILE} -S ${SIZE_ALL_FILE}
 PKG_ARGS_COMMON+=	-P "`${MAKE} ${MAKEFLAGS} run-depends-list PACKAGE_DEPENDS_QUICK=true|sort -u`"
 .ifdef CONFLICTS
@@ -2580,6 +2584,11 @@ package-name:
 .endif # PACKAGE_NAME_TYPE
 .endif # !target(package-name)
 
+.if !target(make-readme-html-help)
+make-readme-html-help:
+	@${ECHO} '${PKGNAME:S/&/\&amp;/g:S/>/\&gt;/g:S/</\&lt;/g}</a>: <TD>'"${COMMENT:S/&/\&amp;/g:S/>/\&gt;/g:S/</\&lt;/g:S/"/\"/g:S/`/\`/g}"
+.endif # !target(make-readme-html-help)
+
 # Show (recursively) all the packages this package depends on.
 # If PACKAGE_DEPENDS_WITH_PATTERNS is set, print as pattern (if possible)
 PACKAGE_DEPENDS_WITH_PATTERNS?=true
@@ -2831,11 +2840,7 @@ binpkg-list:
 describe:
 	@${ECHO} -n "${PKGNAME}|${.CURDIR}|";				\
 	${ECHO} -n "${PREFIX}|";					\
-	if [ -f ${COMMENT} ]; then					\
-		${ECHO} -n "`${CAT} ${COMMENT}`";			\
-	else								\
-		${ECHO} -n "** No Description";				\
-	fi;								\
+	${ECHO} -n "${COMMENT:S/"/\"/g:S/`/\`/g}";			\
 	if [ -f ${DESCR_SRC} ]; then					\
 		${ECHO} -n "|${DESCR_SRC}";				\
 	else								\
@@ -2940,8 +2945,7 @@ README.html: .PRECIOUS
 		-e '/%%VULNERABILITIES%%/d'				\
 		-e '/%%VULDATE%%/r $@.tmp6'				\
 		-e '/%%VULDATE%%/d'					\
-		-e '/%%COMMENT%%/r ${PKGDIR}/COMMENT'			\
-		-e '/%%COMMENT%%/d'					\
+		-e "s/%%COMMENT%%/${COMMENT:S/"/\"/g:S/`/\`/g:S|/|\/|g}/" \
 		-e '/%%BUILD_DEPENDS%%/r $@.tmp1'			\
 		-e '/%%BUILD_DEPENDS%%/d'				\
 		-e '/%%RUN_DEPENDS%%/r $@.tmp2'				\
@@ -3149,7 +3153,7 @@ print-PLIST:
 .if !target(fake-pkg)
 fake-pkg: ${PLIST} ${DESCR} ${MESSAGE}
 	${_PKG_SILENT}${_PKG_DEBUG}\
-	if [ ! -f ${PLIST} -o ! -f ${COMMENT} -o ! -f ${DESCR} ]; then \
+	if [ ! -f ${PLIST} -o ! -f ${DESCR} ]; then \
 		${ECHO} "** Missing package files for ${PKGNAME} - installation not recorded."; \
 		exit 1;							\
 	fi
@@ -3213,7 +3217,7 @@ fake-pkg: ${PLIST} ${DESCR} ${MESSAGE}
 		${MKDIR} ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME};			\
 		${PKG_CREATE} ${PKG_ARGS_INSTALL} -O ${PKGFILE} > ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+CONTENTS; \
 		${CP} ${DESCR} ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+DESC;		\
-		${CP} ${COMMENT} ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+COMMENT;	\
+		${ECHO} "${COMMENT:S/"/\"/g:S/`/\`/g}" > ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+COMMENT; \
 		${CP} ${BUILD_VERSION_FILE} ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+BUILD_VERSION; \
 		${CP} ${BUILD_INFO_FILE} ${PKG_DBDIR}/${PKGNAME}/+BUILD_INFO; \
 		if ${TEST} -e ${SIZE_PKG_FILE}; then 			\
diff --git a/mk/bsd.pkg.subdir.mk b/mk/bsd.pkg.subdir.mk
index a11724a4c90..7e1e4d8c842 100644
--- a/mk/bsd.pkg.subdir.mk
+++ b/mk/bsd.pkg.subdir.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#	$NetBSD: bsd.pkg.subdir.mk,v 1.40 2001/01/13 15:35:53 tv Exp $
+#	$NetBSD: bsd.pkg.subdir.mk,v 1.41 2001/02/16 13:06:19 wiz Exp $
 #	Derived from: FreeBSD Id: bsd.port.subdir.mk,v 1.19 1997/03/09 23:10:56 wosch Exp 
 #	from: @(#)bsd.subdir.mk	5.9 (Berkeley) 2/1/91
 #
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ STRIPFLAG?=	-s
 .endif
 
 AWK?=		/usr/bin/awk
+CAT?=		/bin/cat
 BASENAME?=	/usr/bin/basename
 ECHO?=		echo
 ECHO_MSG?=	${ECHO}
@@ -143,13 +144,9 @@ README.html: .PRECIOUS
 .for entry in ${SUBDIR}
 .if defined(PKGSRCTOP)
 	@${ECHO} -n '<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><a href="'${entry}/README.html'">'"`${ECHO} ${entry} | ${HTMLIFY}`"'</a>: <TD>' >> $@.tmp
+	@${ECHO} `cd ${entry} && ${MAKE} ${MAKEFLAGS} show-comment | ${HTMLIFY}` >> $@.tmp
 .else
-	@${ECHO} -n '<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><a href="'${entry}/README.html'">'"`cd ${entry}; ${MAKE} ${MAKEFLAGS} package-name | ${HTMLIFY}`</a>: <TD>" >> $@.tmp
-.endif
-.if exists(${entry}/pkg/COMMENT)
-	@${HTMLIFY} ${entry}/pkg/COMMENT >> $@.tmp
-.else
-	@${ECHO} "(no description)" >> $@.tmp
+	@${ECHO} '<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP><a href="'${entry}/README.html'">'"`cd ${entry}; ${MAKE} ${MAKEFLAGS} make-readme-html-help`" >> $@.tmp
 .endif
 .endfor
 	@${SORT} -t '>' +3 -4 $@.tmp > $@.tmp2
@@ -159,7 +156,7 @@ README.html: .PRECIOUS
 .else
 	@> $@.tmp3
 .endif
-	@cat ${README} | \
+	@${CAT} ${README} | \
 		${SED} -e 's/%%CATEGORY%%/'"`${BASENAME} ${.CURDIR}`"'/g' \
 			-e '/%%NUMITEMS%%/r$@.tmp4' \
 			-e '/%%NUMITEMS%%/d' \
@@ -181,6 +178,15 @@ README.html: .PRECIOUS
 	@cd ${subdir} && ${MAKE} ${MAKEFLAGS} "_THISDIR_=${_THISDIR_}${.CURDIR:T}/" ${_README_TYPE}
 .endfor
 
+show-comment:
+	@if [ "${COMMENT}" ]; then					\
+		${ECHO} "${COMMENT:S/"/''/}";				\
+	elif [ -f pkg/COMMENT ] ; then					\
+		${CAT} pkg/COMMENT;					\
+	else								\
+		${ECHO} '(no description)';				\
+	fi
+
 .if !target(show-distfiles)
 show-distfiles:
 	@for entry in ${SUBDIR}; do					\
diff --git a/pkgtools/pkglint/Makefile b/pkgtools/pkglint/Makefile
index 405ffb84639..492bcbd1bf2 100644
--- a/pkgtools/pkglint/Makefile
+++ b/pkgtools/pkglint/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.77 2001/01/29 10:48:09 abs Exp $
+# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.78 2001/02/16 13:06:19 wiz Exp $
 #
 
-DISTNAME=		pkglint-2.36
+DISTNAME=		pkglint-2.37
 CATEGORIES=		pkgtools devel
 MASTER_SITES=		# empty
 DISTFILES=		# empty
diff --git a/pkgtools/pkglint/files/pkglint.pl b/pkgtools/pkglint/files/pkglint.pl
index b64a83042ae..96def7e1c0b 100644
--- a/pkgtools/pkglint/files/pkglint.pl
+++ b/pkgtools/pkglint/files/pkglint.pl
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # Freely redistributable.  Absolutely no warranty.
 #
 # From Id: portlint.pl,v 1.64 1998/02/28 02:34:05 itojun Exp
-# $NetBSD: pkglint.pl,v 1.38 2001/01/26 13:16:52 wiz Exp $
+# $NetBSD: pkglint.pl,v 1.39 2001/02/16 13:06:19 wiz Exp $
 #
 # This version contains some changes necessary for NetBSD packages
 # done by Hubert Feyrer <hubertf@netbsd.org> and
@@ -158,9 +158,8 @@ if (! -f "$portdir/Makefile") {
 #
 # check for files.
 #
-@checker = ("$pkgdir/COMMENT", "$pkgdir/DESCR");
-%checker = ("$pkgdir/COMMENT", 'checkdescr',
-	    "$pkgdir/DESCR", 'checkdescr');
+@checker = ("$pkgdir/DESCR");
+%checker = ("$pkgdir/DESCR", 'checkdescr');
 
 if ($extrafile) {
 	foreach $i ((<$portdir/$scriptdir/*>, <$portdir/$pkgdir/*>)) {
@@ -232,6 +231,9 @@ if (-e <$portdir/$md5file> ) {
 		&perror("WARN: no $portdir/$md5file file. Please run 'make makesum'.");
 	}
 }
+if (-e <$pkgdir/COMMENT> ) {
+	&perror("FATAL: pkg/COMMENT is deprecated -- please use a COMMENT variable instead.");
+}
 if (! -f "$portdir/$pkgdir/PLIST"
     and ! -f "$portdir/$pkgdir/PLIST-mi"
     and ! $seen_PLIST_SRC
@@ -261,14 +263,13 @@ if ($err || $warn) {
 exit $err;
 
 #
-# pkg/COMMENT, pkg/DESCR
+# pkg/DESCR
 #
 sub checkdescr {
 	local($file) = @_;
-	local(%maxchars) = ('COMMENT', 70, 'DESCR', 80);
-	local(%maxlines) = ('COMMENT', 1, 'DESCR', 24);
-	local(%errmsg) = ('COMMENT', "must be one-liner",
-			  'DESCR', "exceeds $maxlines{'DESCR'} ".
+	local(%maxchars) = ('DESCR', 80);
+	local(%maxlines) = ('DESCR', 24);
+	local(%errmsg) = ('DESCR', "exceeds $maxlines{'DESCR'} ".
 			  	   "lines, make it shorter if possible");
 	local($longlines, $linecnt, $tmp) = (0, 0, "");
 
@@ -295,19 +296,6 @@ sub checkdescr {
 			"other local characters.  $file should be ".
 			"plain ascii file.");
 	}
-	if ($shortname eq 'COMMENT') {
-	    	if ($tmp =~ /\.$/i) {
-			&perror("WARN: $file should not end with".
-				" a '.' (period).");
-		}
-		if ($tmp =~ /^(a|an) /i) {
-			&perror("WARN: $file should not begin with '$1 '.");
-		}
-		if ($tmp =~ /^\s/ || $tmp =~ /\s\n$/) {
-			&perror("WARN: $file should not not have any leading".
-				" or trailing whitespace.");
-		}
-	}
 	close(IN);
 }
 
@@ -651,7 +639,7 @@ sub readmakefile {
 sub checkmakefile {
 	local($file) = @_;
 	local($rawwhole, $whole, $idx, @sections);
-	local($tmp);
+	local($tmp, $tmp2);
 	local($i, $j, $k, $l);
 	local(@varnames) = ();
 	local($distfiles, $pkgname, $distname, $extractsufx) = ('', '', '', '');
@@ -1137,9 +1125,9 @@ EOF
         @tocheck=split(/\s+/, <<EOF);
 MAINTAINER
 EOF
-	if ($osname eq "NetBSD") {
-	    push(@tocheck,"HOMEPAGE");
-	}
+	push(@tocheck,"HOMEPAGE");
+	push(@tocheck,"COMMENT");
+
         &checkorder('MAINTAINER', $tmp, @tocheck);
 
 	# warnings for missing HOMEPAGE
@@ -1148,6 +1136,19 @@ EOF
 		&perror("WARN: please add HOMEPAGE if the package has one.");
 	}
 
+	# warnings for missing COMMENT
+	if ($tmp !~ /\nCOMMENT=\s*(.*)$/) {
+		&perror("FATAL: please add a short COMMENT describing the package.");
+	}
+	# and its properties:
+	$tmp2 = $1;
+	if ($tmp2 =~ /\.$/i) {
+		&perror("WARN: COMMENT should not end with a '.' (period).");
+	}
+	if ($tmp2 =~ /^(a|an) /i) {
+		&perror("WARN: COMMENT should not begin with '$1 '.");
+	}
+
 	&checkearlier($tmp, @varnames);
 	$tmp = "\n" . $tmp;
 	if ($tmp =~ /\nMAINTAINER=[^\n]+/) {
diff --git a/pkgtools/port2pkg/Makefile b/pkgtools/port2pkg/Makefile
index 259d01bb3c4..8ad6e3fbbed 100644
--- a/pkgtools/port2pkg/Makefile
+++ b/pkgtools/port2pkg/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.9 2001/01/04 20:22:47 sommerfeld Exp $
+# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.10 2001/02/16 13:06:20 wiz Exp $
 #
 
-DISTNAME=	port2pkg-1.7
+DISTNAME=	port2pkg-1.8
 CATEGORIES=	pkgtools
 MASTER_SITES=	# empty
 DISTFILES=	# empty
diff --git a/pkgtools/port2pkg/files/port2pkg.pl b/pkgtools/port2pkg/files/port2pkg.pl
index 549bb57c876..e1914421258 100755
--- a/pkgtools/port2pkg/files/port2pkg.pl
+++ b/pkgtools/port2pkg/files/port2pkg.pl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env perl
 #
-# $NetBSD: port2pkg.pl,v 1.7 2001/01/04 20:22:47 sommerfeld Exp $
+# $NetBSD: port2pkg.pl,v 1.8 2001/02/16 13:06:20 wiz Exp $
 #
 
 require 'getopts.pl';
@@ -239,6 +239,14 @@ sub conv_Makefile {
 				}
 			}
 			close(DESCR);
+			open(COMMENT, "$pkgdir/pkg/COMMENT")
+				|| die "$pkgdir/pkg/COMMENT: $!\n";
+			while (<COMMENT>) {
+				chomp;
+				print PKG "COMMENT=\t$1\n";
+			}
+			close(COMMENT);
+			unlink("$pkgdir/pkg/COMMENT");
 		} elsif ($noportdocs || /^\.if.*NOPORTDOCS/) {
 			if (/^\.if/) {
 				$noportdocs++;
diff --git a/pkgtools/url2pkg/Makefile b/pkgtools/url2pkg/Makefile
index 4e7c66459c9..94b0d1824f4 100644
--- a/pkgtools/url2pkg/Makefile
+++ b/pkgtools/url2pkg/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.11 2001/01/29 09:57:41 abs Exp $
+# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.12 2001/02/16 13:06:19 wiz Exp $
 #
 
-DISTNAME=	url2pkg-1.14
+DISTNAME=	url2pkg-1.15
 CATEGORIES=	pkgtools sysutils
 MASTER_SITES=	# Nothing
 DISTFILES=	# Nothing
diff --git a/pkgtools/url2pkg/files/url2pkg b/pkgtools/url2pkg/files/url2pkg
index 85cfa84924c..6c56af5e948 100755
--- a/pkgtools/url2pkg/files/url2pkg
+++ b/pkgtools/url2pkg/files/url2pkg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 #
-# $NetBSD: url2pkg,v 1.14 2001/01/28 17:30:20 hubertf Exp $
+# $NetBSD: url2pkg,v 1.15 2001/02/16 13:06:20 wiz Exp $
 #
 # url2pkg
 # (c) 1999 Hubert Feyrer
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ if [ ! -f w*/.extract_done ]; then
 	echo ""
 	echo "MAINTAINER=	$email_maintainer"
 	echo "HOMEPAGE=	"
+	echo "COMMENT=	<SHORT_DESCRIPTION_OF_THE_PACKAGE>"
 	echo ""
 	echo '.include "../../mk/bsd.pkg.mk"'
 	) >Makefile
@@ -133,13 +134,10 @@ echo ""
 echo "Contents of "`echo w*`"/${wrksrc}:"
 ls -la w*/$wrksrc
 
-if [ ! -f pkg/COMMENT ]; then
-	touch pkg/COMMENT
-fi
 if [ ! -f pkg/DESCR ]; then
 	touch pkg/DESCR
 fi
 echo ""
-echo "Don't forget to fill in pkg/COMMENT and pkg/DESCR when you're done."
+echo "Don't forget to fill in the COMMENT variable and pkg/DESCR when you're done."
 echo ""
 echo "Good luck! (See pkgsrc/Packages.txt for some more help :-)"