Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2012 18:32:24 -0400 From: Paul Mather <paul@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> To: Chris Nehren <apeiron+freebsd-stable@isuckatdomains.net> Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Why Are You NOT Using FreeBSD? Message-ID: <11FFF29A-5B2F-45C7-AE79-DCA108B44EED@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> In-Reply-To: <20120602185601.GD2309@isuckatdomains.members.linode.com> References: <C480320C-0CD9-4B61-8AFB-37085C820AB7@FreeBSD.org> <1405746.nVtAo183hi@x220.ovitrap.com> <4FC9FECC.8090703@digsys.bg> <3303845.JjFTmctz7f@x220.ovitrap.com> <4FCA0B5F.5010500@digsys.bg> <4FCA20C5.6010901@zedat.fu-berlin.de> <CADLo83-7VvmBOnG=%2Bm7q2MKyYOe-YoE=ctqFEfzZJVuEdk8VGQ@mail.gmail.com> <95D35900-AC63-4948-B54F-40041FFCB232@gromit.dlib.vt.edu> <20120602185601.GD2309@isuckatdomains.members.linode.com>
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On Jun 2, 2012, at 2:56 PM, Chris Nehren wrote: > On Sat, Jun 02, 2012 at 14:11:06 -0400 , Paul Mather wrote: >> I'm not sure what the solution is for the end user. I know I get >> somewhat leery of updating my ports if I see a large number of = changes >> coming via portsnap (like the 4000+ that accompanied the recent = libpng >> upgrade) and there is nothing new in UPDATING (which, happily wasn't >> the case with the libpng upgrade). Usually, I wait a while for the >> dust to clear and an UPDATING entry potentially to appear. >=20 > If you're concerned about things breaking, don't follow the bleeding > edge. This seems to be common sense. Unfortunately, unlike the base operating system, which has -CURRENT, = -STABLE, and -RELEASE, there is no well-defined "bleeding edge" in the = case of ports. (Although there is a strong case to be made that it is = analogous to -CURRENT.) So, as I said above, you have to fall back on = heuristics to determine when it is best to update (with the caveat that = waiting too long to update can also be as troublesome as updating too = quickly). Certainly, it's far from a case of "read UPDATING and you'll = be okay," as someone in this thread was seeming to imply. NetBSD's pkgsrc has a nice feature: the quarterly package branches. = These follow a quarterly release cycle and receive only security = updates. It makes pkgsrc more akin to -CURRENT and -STABLE (or = -RELEASE) instead of just -CURRENT. >> Maybe the solution is to track the freebsd-ports mailing list get get >> advanced warning of large changes, but that would mean following >> another high-volume list. :-( >=20 > And any decent mailer setup can filter those messages for you, leaving > only the messages relevant to ports you're interested in. There are = also > systems like gmane which provide an NNTP feed for mailing lists. > Combined with a newsreader with good killfile / scoring features, it > shouldn't be hard to keep up. Probably not, but then again you're still relying on it breaking for = someone else (and thereby being reported) to avoid it breaking for you. = :-) I'm not saying these are insurmountable problems, and, in my experience, = most of the time ports updates go smoothly. But, it can present more of = a challenge for those that are running an individual FreeBSD system (as = their desktop/laptop system, say), and especially if they are using = non-default port options in the ports they install, as these don't get = the benefit of widespread testing. Cheers, Paul.
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