On Sun, Sep 10, 2006 at 11:59:10AM +1000, Mark Andrews wrote: > > > Yeah, -STABLE is what you should run if you want stable code, right? > > No. STABLE means STABLE API. > > If you want stable code you run releases. Between releases > stable can become unstable. Think of stable as permanent > BETA code. Changes have passed the first level of testing > in current which is permanent ALPHA code. > > Most of the time beta code is perfectly fine to run but > occasionally things will go wrong. The point of BETA code > is to catch those errors that escape detection in the ALPHA > stage before they make it into a release. That is done by > having a wider diversity of clients run the BETA code. > > Occasionally you have bugs that make it through both the ALPHA > and BETA stages.
Of course this assumes that -RELEASE is actually stable and fully suitable for production use. As soon as you find a bug that you can't live with in -RELEASE, you have darn few options other than to updade to -STABLE, especially if there's a commit in the tree that appears to fix the bug in -STABLE. Once the -RELEASE branch is taken, code updates there <STOP>. Not even Microsoft expects people to live from release to release without bug fixes! In the 10 years I've been running FreeBSD in a production environment I've yet to find a -RELEASE branch that is actually suitable for production use for the duration between -RELEASEs; inevitably a bug that I can't live with requires that I update the source, and what does one update to in this instance? -STABLE. If the project wishes to have -RELEASE be "the stable point" then bug fixes (once FULLY tested) must be back-ported to -RELEASE - otherwise the appearance of a bug you can't live with gives you no other real option than to run the -STABLE track. -- -- Karl Denninger ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Internet Consultant & Kids Rights Activist http://www.denninger.net My home on the net - links to everything I do! http://scubaforum.org Your UNCENSORED place to talk about DIVING! http://genesis3.blogspot.com Musings Of A Sentient Mind _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
