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Date:      Mon, 25 May 2026 15:41:44 +0900
From:      Takashi Shimizu <qqyr7xx9k@shirt.ocn.ne.jp>
To:        stable@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Proposal: Improve BE naming convention in freebsd-update install
Message-ID:  <cfc338d2-16cd-4316-879d-092674d248c1@shirt.ocn.ne.jp>
In-Reply-To: <BL4PR11MB88249FD96B59C106E57DAD26E60A2@BL4PR11MB8824.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References:  <70da0c5b-c865-44e9-8c19-abb1cd779efe@shirt.ocn.ne.jp> <BL4PR11MB88249FD96B59C106E57DAD26E60A2@BL4PR11MB8824.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
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[-- Attachment #1 --]
Thank you for your thoughtful response.

I think there was a misunderstanding about the core of my proposal. I 
was not suggesting a naming convention for users to follow manually. The 
proposal is that freebsd-update itself should automatically rename the 
current BE to "HEAD" after each install operation.

To be more explicit:

  * When freebsd-update install completes, it renames the current BE to
    "HEAD" automatically.
  * The next time freebsd-update install runs, it again renames the
    current BE to "HEAD", overwriting the previous name.
  * This guarantees that "HEAD" always refers to the latest state
    managed by freebsd-update, without any user intervention.

This addresses your concern about name shifting. The shifting is done by 
freebsd-update itself, not by the user.

Regarding your point that "HEAD" does not describe what is in the BE: 
that is intentional. The pre-update snapshot retains the version-stamped 
name such as 15.0-RELEASE-p8_2026-05-24, which does describe its 
contents. "HEAD" is not meant to describe contents but to indicate 
position: it is always the tip of the freebsd-update managed state, 
analogous to HEAD in version control.

I agree that "original" has the same weakness in not describing its 
contents. Naming it after the installed version, such as "15.0-RELEASE", 
would be more informative.

Takashi

[-- Attachment #2 --]
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  </head>
  <body>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Thank
      you for your thoughtful response.</p>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">I
      think there was a misunderstanding about the core of my proposal.
      I was not suggesting a naming convention for users to follow
      manually. The proposal is that freebsd-update itself should
      automatically rename the current BE to "HEAD" after each install
      operation.</p>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">To
      be more explicit:</p>
    <ul
class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3">
      <li
class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">When
        freebsd-update install completes, it renames the current BE to
        "HEAD" automatically.</li>
      <li
class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">The
        next time freebsd-update install runs, it again renames the
        current BE to "HEAD", overwriting the previous name.</li>
      <li
class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">This
        guarantees that "HEAD" always refers to the latest state managed
        by freebsd-update, without any user intervention.</li>
    </ul>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">This
      addresses your concern about name shifting. The shifting is done
      by freebsd-update itself, not by the user.</p>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Regarding
      your point that "HEAD" does not describe what is in the BE: that
      is intentional. The pre-update snapshot retains the
      version-stamped name such as 15.0-RELEASE-p8_2026-05-24, which
      does describe its contents. "HEAD" is not meant to describe
      contents but to indicate position: it is always the tip of the
      freebsd-update managed state, analogous to HEAD in version
      control.</p>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">I
      agree that "original" has the same weakness in not describing its
      contents. Naming it after the installed version, such as
      "15.0-RELEASE", would be more informative.</p>
    <p
class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Takashi</p>
  </body>
</html>
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