Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 12:16:05 -0500 From: "Tom Bartling" <tom@tombartling.com> To: <questions@FreeBSD.org> Subject: Confusion over which version to use for a production server Message-ID: <007201c3513e$19fdee00$6401a8c0@austin.rr.com>
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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.=20 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?=20 http://www.freebsd.org/projects/newbies.html#fbsd says, "If you haven't = installed yet, look for the latest mainstream release. (See the Handbook = for why you should not be tempted by any of the other branches.)" OK... = if you follow the link, it says that the latest release is 5.1-RELEASE. = The comment about referring to the Handbook "for why you should not be = tempted by any of the other branches" only confuses the matter, since = there is no link to tell me where in the Handbook I should go for this = information.=20 Here's what I did find in the Handbook: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/current-stable.= html Again, this page has no mention of the RELEASE version. What makes this = even more confusing is the FTP. The various README.TXT files indicate = that a RELEASE is the lates Release from the STABLE or CURRENT branch, = depending on the version.=20 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.=20 Thanks for your help, Tom P.S. - I've been running a web server with 4.5-STABLE for about 5 months = and it's great, but old.=20
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