The Makefile for a port automatically looks in a central location on your system (usually /usr/ports/distfiles, though this value can be customized) for the associated set of original distribution files that have been ``ported''. Those not found locally are searched for wherever they're generally provided on the Internet. If you have a CDROM distribution of FreeBSD then you've already got them available on your CD for ease of use. See Compiling ports from CD if you have such a CDROM distribution, otherwise skip to Compiling ports using an Internet connection .