From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Sep 30 01:21:35 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 B9CC516A4CE for ; Thu, 30 Sep 2004 01:21:35 +0000 (GMT) Received: from internet.potentialtech.com (h-66-167-251-6.phlapafg.covad.net [66.167.251.6]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5AAAC43D39 for ; Thu, 30 Sep 2004 01:21:35 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from wmoran@potentialtech.com) Received: from working.potentialtech.com (pa-plum-cmts1e-68-68-113-64.pittpa.adelphia.net [68.68.113.64]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by internet.potentialtech.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7412669A39; Wed, 29 Sep 2004 21:21:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 21:21:33 -0400 From: Bill Moran To: michael2043@comcast.net Message-Id: <20040929212133.673cba5e.wmoran@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: References: Organization: Potential Technologies X-Mailer: Sylpheed version 0.9.12 (GTK+ 1.2.10; i386-portbld-freebsd4.9) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Which FreeBSD For A Production System 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: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 01:21:35 -0000 "Michael G. Goodell" wrote: > Which release of FreeBSD is best for a production environment? I am aware of > the different branches of development: CURRENT, STABLE, RELEASE and I > *think* I understand the meaning of each from what I have read. Perhaps not > since I am writing this question! But, what I would like to know is when I > am setting up a production system, or desktop for that matter, which is > considered *THE* most stable of the choices in versions. Is it in the 4.x > branch, 5x etc... > > Where can I get clarification on this topic - any direction would be > welcome. You can't, because it's a moving target. FreeBSD is under constant development, so the answer today is different than it was some months ago, and may be different again in a few months. Right now, I'm thinking that 5.3 is the way to go. It's not quite considered stable yet, but unless you can set up a server damn fast, it'll be announced as stable before you're ready to go live. Even if it's not yet, it's already damn close. If you want the absolutely best FreeBSD, the 4 series has been a rock solid performer. The only problem is that 5 is ready to become _the_ FreeBSD, and in a year or so, you'll be wanting to upgrade to 5, which will be a bit of a chore from what I can see. So, if you don't think that server will be online for longer than a year, but you want it to be reliable, install 4, and when you replace the machine, use 5. Otherwise, you'll probably want 5 so you're up with all the latest stuff. Some might argue that 5 is not officially for production use yet, but the announcement that it is ready for production use seems as if it will be coming within the next few weeks. Just use cvsup to keep the system updated. -- Bill Moran Potential Technologies http://www.potentialtech.com