Binary Packages

As in FreeBSD, you can use the pkg_add command. To do this you will need to set the PKG_PATH environmental variable. This can be set during the initial installation under the config option. The path follows the format: ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/OPSYS/ARCH/VERSIONS/All.For example for AMD64 the PKG_PATH would look as follows: ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/amd64/6.0_2012Q4/All*.

Newer versions of FreeBSD have pkgng system for installing binary packages. On NetBSD, the command is pkgin. See here http://pkgin.net/ for more information on using it. From my brief experience, I had far more success using pkgin than pkg_add or even building from source. I also found pkgin more user friendly than FreeBSD's pkgng system.