Installing Emacs on BSD
Emacs is available among BSD variants including FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and PC-BSD
FreeBSD
Install
Emacs 23
To install the latest stable version of Emacs, with all the latest features, there are two approaches: using a pre built package or building from the ports.
To fetch and install the package run:
# pkg_add -r emacs
Or use the ports:
# cd /usr/ports/editors/emacs
# make install
Emacs 24
To install the latest development version of Emacs, with all the latest features, there are two approaches: using a pre built package or building from the ports.
To fetch and install the package run:
# pkg_add -r emacs-devel
Or use the ports:
# cd /usr/ports/editors/emacs-devel
# make install
Related documentation
Using Emacs as a Development Environment from the official FreeBSD project documentation. Some of the config tweaks are a bit dated and might need updating. But overall it's a good starting point.
NetBSD
OpenBSD
Set PKG_PATH to an appropriate mirror.
# pkg_add -i emacs
pkg_add will prompt you for which version you want—currently, versions 21, 22, and 23 are available.
You can also install from the ports tree; however, "The [OpenBSD] ports tree is meant for advanced users. Everyone is encouraged to use the pre-compiled binary packages."(OpenBSD FAQ, section 15.3)
No premade port or package for Emacs 24 seems to be publicly available currently.