Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 17:23:03 -0500 From: JJ <jimmiejaz@gmail.com> To: chat@freebsd.org Subject: RE: Productivity with FBSD, or: "portupgrade" vs. virus scans.... Message-ID: <7e148fb90702061423yfe9c02and915206c04dcd5f0@mail.gmail.com>
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Hello Kevin (and other desktop users) :If you're a desktop FBSD user: : :How do you keep up with ports? I've been using FreeBSD as my main desktop since 4.0. While having morning coffee, reading the news, I browse the mailing list, http://docs.freebsd.org/mail/current/ , paying attention to ports@ ports-bugs@ and questions@. Daily, I check portaudit -Fa to see if there's any security issues. About once a week I'll cvsup just to keep my tree sync'd with the main, then I check with UPDATING, and run this script in the ports that have an update availible, #!/bin/sh # Much love Min1ster on CJ's for the scripting! # Replace -depends- with -run- if you wish to check it's run depends. # for i in `make pretty-print-build-depends-list | awk -F\" '{print $2 }'` do hasit=`pkg_info -E $i` if [ -z $hasit ]; then echo "$i is not installed" else : fi done Then I decide if A) there's an issue that needs fixing, and B) if a new feature I need is there. If it's security related, I update. If there's nothing pressing, I put off updating for a day or two to read the mailing lists, to see if there's any reports of issues. : : *Do you have (or have you, at some time, had) much trouble? A few times, but that's usually because A) I didn't read UPDATING closely enough, B) rushed into a version bump, C) did something stupid. : : *If you have trouble, do you accept it as a "cost" of using FreeBSD? Trouble updating something is always a "cost", I've ruined WindowsXP with SP2 installs, that I counted as the "cost" of updating. To me, software, like people, aren't perfect, and at times there will be mistakes. : :How often do you upgrade your ports/packages? On my main workstation, when I need a new feature/security patch. On my test machine, (quad boot, winXP, FBSD, Debian ETCH, and win98) if there's an update, I apply it, but that machine gets a fresh install every few weeks/months. : :Any suggestions on what I might do differently? : : *Should I quit updating FBSD except for major point releases? : : *Should we upgrade the server-type ports and leave the desktop apps :alone when we get a "stable" configuration there? : : *How dangerous is it to be using outdated ports (particularly the :servers)? As long as there's no known security issues, there's no problems what-so-ever. Seems to me, -RELEASE and pkg's would be your best bet, along with avoiding the "urge" to update whenever there's a new version, unless it's needed. Hope this helps, Jimmie
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