From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jan 17 19:55:37 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C80AC1065678 for ; Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:55:37 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from prvs=1363d33761=killing@multiplay.co.uk) Received: from mail1.multiplay.co.uk (mail1.multiplay.co.uk [85.236.96.23]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 244D08FC0C for ; Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:55:36 +0000 (UTC) X-Spam-Processed: mail1.multiplay.co.uk, Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:54:46 +0000 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on mail1.multiplay.co.uk X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.0 required=6.0 tests=USER_IN_WHITELIST shortcircuit=ham autolearn=disabled version=3.2.5 Received: from r2d2 ([188.220.16.49]) by mail1.multiplay.co.uk (mail1.multiplay.co.uk [85.236.96.23]) (MDaemon PRO v10.0.4) with ESMTP id md50017598061.msg; Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:54:46 +0000 X-MDRemoteIP: 188.220.16.49 X-Return-Path: prvs=1363d33761=killing@multiplay.co.uk X-Envelope-From: killing@multiplay.co.uk Message-ID: <93F94D7970EC47D88A2DF9C7F726BF75@multiplay.co.uk> From: "Steven Hartland" To: "John Kozubik" , "Tom Evans" References: Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:54:51 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=response Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.5931 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.6157 Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, Ivan Voras Subject: Re: FreeBSD has serious problems with focus, longevity, and lifecycle X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:55:37 -0000 ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Kozubik" > It's amazing how many people are in the exact same boats - waiting for > 8.3, getting locked out of new motherboards because em(4) can't be > "backported" to even the production release... This is not true, only last week did we take the version of e1000 from HEAD into our 8.2-RELEASE tree as a patch. It wasnt totally trivial but it also wasnt difficult either. But it would still be preferable for many not to have to do this I assume? This import brings the number of number release patches we manually apply to our machines above 8.2-RELEASE to 18 which includes:- updated areca driver, boot time fixes (disable memtest), devfs startup fix ixgbe & e100 drivers, libz assembly crash fix, mps driver import, rc.subr fix for scripts, increased max swap size, tcp reassembly fix, udp6 fix for java, cam timeout fixes, zfs overflow fix, zfs slice boot delay, camcontrol security options for ssds and jail uref panic fix. I'm sure there are more that others would include but these changes are important enough to our environment to prompt their inclusion in what is effectively our own stream of 8.2-RELEASE. Now I know the factastic work commiters do in bring us FreeBSD so I can't bring myself to critisise in anyway the work they do. But its defintiely interesting to see others are in the same boat as us looking for something thats a bit more predicable than the current large change releases. I wonder if there is something that could be created to make maintaining micro branches easier. I know mfsbsd has made our lives so much simpler since we discovered it allowing us to take a standard source build on one machine and roll an install cd customised to our requirements in minutes. What other undiscovered gems are our out there? Regards Steve ================================================ This e.mail is private and confidential between Multiplay (UK) Ltd. and the person or entity to whom it is addressed. In the event of misdirection, the recipient is prohibited from using, copying, printing or otherwise disseminating it or any information contained in it. In the event of misdirection, illegible or incomplete transmission please telephone +44 845 868 1337 or return the E.mail to postmaster@multiplay.co.uk.