How to restore vim screen when exiting

When you exit vim it does not restore the terminal screen (particularly in FreeBSD), here is how to fix that (file ~/.vimrc):

" Restore terminal screen when exiting Vim
if &term =~ "xterm"
  let &t_ti = "\<Esc>[?47h"
  let &t_te = "\<Esc>[?47l"
endif

Rebuilding World and Kernel on FreeBSD

Building the world and kernel on FreeBSD is just few steps procedure. The Handbook explains everything in great details. Here is short version.

Keep FreeBSD up to date with csup

csup is a simple tool to keep you FreeBSD source and/or ports collection up to date (rewrite of CSVup in C). There are a number of mirrors around the world hosting the source code and you need to select one that is closest to your location. Use a tool like traceroute to find a one that responds best (shortest path, low delays).

FreeBSD Binary/Security Updates

freebsd-update is a tool to fetch and update binary security patches for official releases. e.g. FreeBSD 9.0-RELEASE. Once you made fresh OS install this is the way to update your system quickly.

freebsd-update fetch
freebsd-update install

Note, this tool doesn't work if you build world/kernel from source.

FreeBSD make.conf example

make.conf stores system-wide build settings that apply each time you run make. Copy example:

cp /usr/share/examples/etc/make.conf /etc

Compile the source code specific to your CPU:

CPUTYPE?=native

It is recommended uncomment the following: CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, COPTFLAGS.

# 2 jobs per CPU
MAKE_JOBS_NUMBER=4

# KNOBS -- A list of popular knobs and their descriptions
# http://svn.freebsd.org/ports/head/KNOBS?view=markup

# Do not to compile X11 support
WITHOUT_X11=
# Include python support, e.g. in Vim
WITH_PYTHON=
# Do not build and install the doc, examples, mans
WITHOUT_EXAMPLES=
WITHOUT_DOCS=
NOPORTDOCS=
NOPORTEXAMPLES=
NO_INSTALL_MANPAGES=