# Frequently Asked Questions

## Is it normal for pkg_add to complain when I use binaries built for NetBSD 5.1 on NetBSD 5.1.2?

Yes. pkgsrc is cross-platform, and there's no general way to distinguish minor revision from major one.

There're many systems that don't handle versions uniformly.
Heuristics are complex and sometimes are really tricky, e.g.
NetBSD 5.1.2 is mostly compatible with NetBSD 5.1, but
NetBSD 5.99.56 may be incompatible with NetBSD 5.99.55.
We cannot embed all relevant knowledge into pkg_add.
That's why you see, e.g.,
<pre>
pkg_add: Warning: package `bc-1.06nb3' was built for a platform:
pkg_add: NetBSD/x86_64 5.1 (pkg) vs. NetBSD/x86_64 5.1.2 (this host)
</pre>
Since you know the versioning scheme of your system (NetBSD in this case)
better than computer, you can handle it better.

Hiding this information instead is wrong since sometimes
incompatibilities (even slight ones) are critical, hence the warning.
If you know that your version is compatible (like in the example above),
you can safely continue using the package until the opposite is demonstrated.