From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue May 4 02:57:20 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31C8A16A4CE for ; Tue, 4 May 2004 02:57:20 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk [81.2.69.218]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5E84443D1D for ; Tue, 4 May 2004 02:57:19 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk (localhost [IPv6:::1]) i449vEnf016025 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Tue, 4 May 2004 10:57:14 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from matthew@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: (from matthew@localhost)id i449vDM2016020; Tue, 4 May 2004 10:57:13 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from matthew) Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 10:57:13 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman To: Luke Kearney Message-ID: <20040504095713.GC13744@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> Mail-Followup-To: Matthew Seaman , Luke Kearney , XylonMaster , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20040504094938.A265.LUKEK@meibin.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="B4IIlcmfBL/1gGOG" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20040504094938.A265.LUKEK@meibin.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.6i X-Virus-Scanned: clamd / ClamAV version devel-20040420, clamav-milter version 0.70k X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-4.8 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=2.63 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk cc: XylonMaster cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Freebsd X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 09:57:20 -0000 --B4IIlcmfBL/1gGOG Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Tue, May 04, 2004 at 09:53:53AM +0900, Luke Kearney wrote: >=20 > On Mon, 03 May 2004 20:52:30 -0400 > XylonMaster granted us these pearls of wisdom: >=20 > > I am a begginer in unix and would like to know which freebsd version is > > considered the most stable and reliable. So far i have the freebsd 4.2 > > powerpack, but am wondering if the downloaded version of freebsd 5.1, 5= =2E2 > > will allow me to install freebsd 4.2 third-party software form the 4.2 > > powerpack edition i have puchased 3 years ago. >=20 > If out and out stability is what you are after then 4.9 is probably the > one you want. 4.2 is a little dated now and is missing some of the new > drivers that you might like to have available to you. There is nothing > wrong with 5.X it is very slick and has some nice new features but IMHO > you might get better mileage from 4.9 to begin with. Dual booting with > 4.9 is a piece of cake too. 4.2-RELEASE is more than a little dated. It's also not the best choice if you're after maximum stability -- 4.2 was the eqivalent in the 4.x series of the upcoming 5.3 release in the 5.x series: that is the first release in the series considered properly stable. In fact, the whole scheme of 'New Technology' releases seen in 5.x is the result of the experience gained at that time. In theory you should be able to install your 4.2 packages on any later machine -- you'll need to install the 4.x-COMPAT stuff on a 5.x machine to have a hope of that working. However, there's no guarrantee that will work properly -- ports are tested with the current versions of the OS at the time they are created, and there's no scheme to test old ports on newer versions of the system (let alone the time and equipment required to do something like that). Also you will very likely be installing software for which various security and other bugs have since been discovered and fixed. You should be able to install up to date equivalents of anything you can find on your PowerPack CDs either from ports or from the pre-compiled packages on the FreeBSD FTP sites. Once you've got network connectivity working this port/package installation over the net is really very easy indeed to do. Cheers, Matthew --=20 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 --B4IIlcmfBL/1gGOG Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQFAl2j5dtESqEQa7a0RAsDDAJsHBXHoJ23FUzbgn9jUQSTCuKo70gCgkX0q RiuqqrXClf/Fvxv+vEv2Zkk= =O+o1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --B4IIlcmfBL/1gGOG--