Staying current with 4.9 - which supfile?
Hi, In order to keep a 4.9 system current - do I need to use the standard-supfile or stable-supfile with cvsup? A diff between the two shows the only real difference being: $ diff standard-supfile stable-supfile . . . 54c71,73 *default release=cvs tag=RELENG_4_9 --- # The following line is for 4-stable. If you want 3-stable or 2.2-stable, # change RELENG_4 to RELENG_3 or RELENG_2_2 respectively. *default release=cvs tag=RELENG_4 So which supfile is the one to go? TIA for your help, -ewald ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Staying current with 4.9 - which supfile?
On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 12:27:58PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In order to keep a 4.9 system current - do I need to use the standard-supfile or stable-supfile with cvsup? That depends on whether you want 4.9-STABLE (stable-supfile), which is the latest incarnation of the 4-STABLE branch, or whether you want 4.9-RELEASE-pX (standard-supfile) which is the 4.9-RELEASE system plus security patches only. 4-STABLE receives new functionality, upgrades to software and so forth. 4.9-RELEASE doesn't. 4-STABLE is what I'd recommend to a home or hobby user, or for someone's workaday desktop machine. 4.9-RELEASE is what I'd recommend for a critical server that absolutely has to keep running 24x7. Cheers, Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgp0.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Staying current with 4.9 - which supfile?
On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 01:51:55PM +, Matthew Seaman wrote: On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 12:27:58PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In order to keep a 4.9 system current - do I need to use the standard-supfile or stable-supfile with cvsup? That depends on whether you want 4.9-STABLE (stable-supfile), which is the latest incarnation of the 4-STABLE branch, or whether you want 4.9-RELEASE-pX (standard-supfile) which is the 4.9-RELEASE system plus security patches only. ... 4-STABLE receives new functionality, upgrades to software and so forth. 4.9-RELEASE doesn't. Hi Matthew, Thanks much for the hints. After going through the explanations of the FreeBSD handbook (difference between STABLE and CURRENT) one more time, re-reading your email there are some questions remaining - maybe you could comment on this just to make things clear: When I installed 4.9 from the CD (originally .iso pulled down from freebsd.org) this was 4.9-STABLE (i.e. 4.9-RELEASE as it was an official release)? When doing a CVS-upgrade on this installation with stable-supfile I get any feature-enhancements/program upgrades in the 4.9 line plus any bug fixes on 4.9? But how - if at all - does CURRENT come in? Or does CURRENT wrt my installed 4.9 only relate to 5.x? (Sorry if these questions sound dumb, but I didn't find any comprehensive explanation about the differences between stable/current/release/standard) Thanks much in advance for your help, -ewald ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Staying current with 4.9 - which supfile?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But how - if at all - does CURRENT come in? Or does CURRENT wrt my installed 4.9 only relate to 5.x? CURRENT is the development version of FreeBSD, basically for developers only, those who want to test the finest and newest options, and do not fear a complete systems failure from time to time (CURRENT does not always compile, and when it compiles, it may be unstable) CURRENT is only in 5.x present, since 4.x is a stable branch by now. Sometimes really nifty features from CURRENT are migrated into STABLE (and thus eventually in RELEASE) after careful testing. HTH HAND ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Staying current with 4.9 - which supfile?
On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 04:29:48PM +0100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks much for the hints. After going through the explanations of the FreeBSD handbook (difference between STABLE and CURRENT) one more time, re-reading your email there are some questions remaining - maybe you could comment on this just to make things clear: When I installed 4.9 from the CD (originally .iso pulled down from freebsd.org) this was 4.9-STABLE (i.e. 4.9-RELEASE as it was an official release)? If you installed from an official release .iso then you'll have got 4.9-RELEASE. This is actually just a point-in-time from the 4-STABLE branch, after the release engineering team has put a temporary block on the usual development activities and spent a good few weeks testing things and fixing up various bug reports and so forth. However, as part of the process of making the release, a new branch is made for the 4.9-RELEASE code, and only critical security fixes get committed to that release branch. Post release the 4-STABLE branch carries on with the usual development activities. When doing a CVS-upgrade on this installation with stable-supfile I get any feature-enhancements/program upgrades in the 4.9 line plus any bug fixes on 4.9? Yes -- 4-STABLE gets all of the security fixes, plus updates to the system (including upgrades to contributed software like sendmail(8)), new features, support for some new hardware and so forth. These updates are meant to be tested in the bleeding edge development environment a.k.a 5-CURRENT so that there's some assurance they're going to work well in 4-STABLE. However, the 4.x series of releases has actually lasted as -STABLE a lot longer than the equivalent for any of the other major version numbers. Consequently the gap between 4.x and 5.x is quite large and MFC'ing (Merge From Current) is not necessarily as simple as it might be in all areas of the system. But how - if at all - does CURRENT come in? Or does CURRENT wrt my installed 4.9 only relate to 5.x? CURRENT is the bleeding edge development environment. You're not expected to run -CURRENT unless you're capable of serious system programming type activities. Indeed, there's no guarrantee that -CURRENT will actually compile and boot at any particular point in time. Yes, -CURRENT implies 5.x at the moment: generally there will be -STABLE and -RELEASEs with major version number N and -CURRENT with version (N+1). However, it's quite an unusual situation at the moment with several New Technology releases being made from the -CURRENT branch. Normality is planned to be restored with the release of 5.3 around March next year, when the 5-STABLE and 6-CURRENT branches[1] will be created. Around that point 4-STABLE will cease to attract much in the way of development activity, and all activity will gradually cease, as it has on the 3-STABLE and 2-STABLE branches. There may be another 4.x-RELEASE before that point, but that's not definite. It will probably be labelled 4.9.1-RELEASE and consist of wrapping up any loose ends and drawing a line under the 4.x series of releases. (Sorry if these questions sound dumb, but I didn't find any comprehensive explanation about the differences between stable/current/release/standard) This is all documented on the http://www.freebsd.org/ site and it's been discussed ad nauseam on various mailing lists. Try reading the 'Release Engineering' pages http://www.freebsd.org/releng/index.html and the links accessible from there. Cheers, Matthew [1] Actually the -CURRENT branch isn't so much a branch, as the main stem from which all other branches ultimately spring. Thus it is labelled 'HEAD' in most of the documentation, and you use the '.' tag in cvsup to retrieve those sources. All part of the fun of using cvs(1). -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgp0.pgp Description: PGP signature
