From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Aug 17 22:41:13 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A915D106568C for ; Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:41:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from andrewlylegould@gmail.com) Received: from mail-bw0-f219.google.com (mail-bw0-f219.google.com [209.85.218.219]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 30F4B8FC3D for ; Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:41:12 +0000 (UTC) Received: by bwz19 with SMTP id 19so3484639bwz.37 for ; Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:41:12 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=EzDsjudKCXAWj7KZ47OkkLLFQ2epsDh8qRnIHdats0g=; b=DNzmOvpnz/XT/FH3PE5QIId3/pkPdR6fBrLmH5oH6Ddbzp2aRXXc8/QpllkaQpHGY9 jxPnH6IJROad/6GLfs/rIJj/L2Nmp6qeyhRWqzRop7svD5RKgYreylUzXmu4QgMyKGPi 19QsgT9iYR1HrwHduUvxK2clKyAfBsnNRBIZo= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=Q79eEJNqchgu+CaKuSM/E3Qm/ObcJCzyXvFGyuyJwGAlQ3KEO1YtmFsnD6OR1z+iJh 8E9jzd89SO1uGJD1h9+XUyWd3au9uUwo/wXgJu8/E7Jyigr4gSNjOfbGsfIr1rEoGakO TiZzxwpKfuyTrjMeNzIsLJ7dJWsT/7BLsxuBA= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.223.2.69 with SMTP id 5mr913573fai.88.1250548872082; Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:41:12 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <4A89D4F9.9020508@toyon.com> References: <4A89BD3E.8020804@toyon.com> <4A89CA18.7000506@toyon.com> <4A89D4F9.9020508@toyon.com> Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:41:12 -0500 Message-ID: From: Andrew Gould To: Chris Stankevitz Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Packages available for different FreeBSD versions X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:41:13 -0000 On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 5:08 PM, Chris Stankevitz wr= ote: > Chuck, > > Thank you for your help. =A0I have two questions: > > Chuck Swiger wrote: >> >> Ports are not branched-- there is no STABLE or CURRENT for ports. =A0The >> same ports tree can be used on 6.x, 7.x, and 8-CURRENT. > > 1. With what is the STABLE/CURRENT tag associated? > a) "core operating system version number" > b) the ports collection > c) something else Ports is a system created to install and manage third party applications that are separate from the core operating system. Although they are separate, it is good to have them in sync so that they are compiled using the same libraries, etc. Therefore, there is an attempt to associate packages (compiled versions of ports) with the version of the operating system upon which they were compiled. RELEASE, STABLE and CURRENT, refer to the core system. RELEASE refers to the version of the operating system that was released with release notes, etc. When you update the core operating system, you can use cvsup to download changes to the source code. STABLE and CURRENT tell cvsup what set of changes you want to download. STABLE is what it sounds like. The changes include patches related to security issues and bugs. New features may be included, but are considered too risky or experimental. CURRENT will put you on the bleeding edge. > >>> What are the repercussions of never updating the "core operating system >>> version number"? >> >> Well, you'll miss ongoing security updates and improvements to the syste= m. > > 2. I thought security updates and improvements to the system would arrive > via the ports mechanism. =A0What kinds of things are not updated via port= s? > =A0(My experience is with Gentoo where everything is updated via portage = and > there is no "core operating system version number"). This is addressed above. I would add, though, that the cvsup mechanism can be used to download updates to the ports system and documentation, in addition to changes to the core system. > > Thanks again, > > Chris > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.o= rg" >