Thanks for the help, Matt (and Luke). I'll use 4.8 for the new server.
--Tom
- Original Message -
From: Matthew Emmerton [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Tom Bartling [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: Confusion over which version to use for a production server
Hi,
I am confused about which version to use for a production server. Nowhere
does it say this is the newest version to use for a production server,
especially if the STABLE branch is still a development branch. I'm not sure
if this is a CYA thing, or if I'm just not finding the right information.
Obviously, this can be a difficult question to answer, since there are so
many branches to follow. However, people who want to use the software (as
oppossed to developing it) will need to know what the most recent version is
that can be used for a production server.
Several pages, as well as messages posted to newsgroups, say that there
are two branchs, STABLE and CURRENT. Yet, there seems to be a third branch:
RELEASE. Is the RELEASE version pre-CURRENT or post-STABLE?
RELEASE is just a snapshot of STABLE when -STABLE is good enough to be
RELEASEd. Clear?
Because I have the perspective of a newbie, I don't mind writing a brief
description for other newbies to determine which version they should use and
how to get it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to determine any of this. Is
the Latest Production Release shown on the right column as Production
Release: 4.8 (or whatever it is at the time)? If so, why does the newbies
page (http://www.freebsd.org/projects/newbies.html#fbsd) say to use the
latest mainstream release, which is 5.1-RELEASE? If I do figure all of this
out, please let me know if you want me to write something for other newbies.
The FreeBSD project is in an interesting state right now. We have two sets
of RELEASEs -- one from the -STABLE branch (4.x) and one from the -CURRENT
branch (5.x). The reason for this is because there's been a lot of major
redesign work in 5.x and it's taking a while for it to solidify. Hence, the
5.x releases are for convenience for those who want to help increase it's
stability by installing it on non-production (or non-critical production)
systems.
Since you're running production systems, do what the front page tells you --
install 4.8, the latest production release.
If you were someone just messing around with FreeBSD for the first time,
we'd tell you to install 5.1, the latest new technology release, since
you'd help us find problems.
--
Matt Emmerton
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