When you are using Freebsd and you are compiling packages from source (using ports collection) then one of the most important things is the /etc/make.conf file. The make.conf file tells your system how it should build things. You can of course build ports using an empty make.conf file but if you do so you will not get the advantages that might come with customizing things a bit further.

Below is my /etc/make.conf, which I used when I was putting my Freebsd box together. Note that my /etc/make.conf removes some non-free parts like libdvdcss2 from Vlc and also makes the system a bit more bare bones. Before using the file, read it through and check that the choices work for you. You might also want to tune MAKE_JOBS_NUMBER variable to match your computer. Tip. If you are unsure about it then just comment it out with # .

#/etc/make.conf file
#Jobs per cpu
MAKE_JOBS_NUMBER=4

#CUT OFF

OPTIONS_UNSET= DOCS EXAMPLES NLS
WITHOUT_DOCS= Y
WITHOUT_EXAMPLES= Y
WITHOUT_NLS= Y
WITHOUT_CUPS= Y
WITHOUT_HTTPD= Y
WITHOUT_DEBUG= Y
WITHOUT_PULSEAUDIO= Y
WITHOUT_LPR= Y
WITHOUT_HAL= Y
WITHOUT_FFMPEG= Y
WITHOUT_GNULTS= Y
WITHOUT_GTK3= Y
WITHOUT_GCONF= Y
WITHOUT_VTE= Y
WITHOUT_ANIMATION= Y
WITHOUT_PYCONF= Y
WITHOUT_DVDCSS= Y
WITHOUT_DVDCSS2= Y
WITHOUT_XVID= Y
WITHOUT_X264= Y

WITHOUT=GNOME= Y
WITHOUT_SSH= Y
WITHOUT_OPENSSH= Y
WITHOUT_TELNET= Y
WITHOUT_JAVA= Y
WITHOUT_KDE4= Y
WITHOUT_TEMPLATES= Y
WITHOUT_CLIPART= Y
WITHOUT_W3M= Y
WITHOUT_XTERM= Y
OPTIONS_SET= NEW_XORG
WITH_SKINS= Y
WITHOUT_MODULES= linux

#If parole then
#WITH_CDDA= Y