From owner-freebsd-doc Sun Jul 11 7:20: 4 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (freefall.FreeBSD.ORG [204.216.27.21]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D849715161 for ; Sun, 11 Jul 1999 07:20:01 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: (from gnats@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.9.3/8.9.2) id HAA98068; Sun, 11 Jul 1999 07:20:01 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix, from userid 32767) id B95F514D25; Sun, 11 Jul 1999 07:13:58 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <19990711141358.B95F514D25@hub.freebsd.org> Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 07:13:58 -0700 (PDT) From: jobaldwi@vt.edu To: freebsd-gnats-submit@freebsd.org X-Send-Pr-Version: www-1.0 Subject: docs/12595: [PATCH] New FAQ Entry: "Why shouldn't I just go ahead and run -current?" Sender: owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org >Number: 12595 >Category: docs >Synopsis: [PATCH] New FAQ Entry: "Why shouldn't I just go ahead and run -current?" >Confidential: no >Severity: non-critical >Priority: medium >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: doc-bug >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Sun Jul 11 07:20:01 PDT 1999 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: >Originator: John Baldwin >Release: 3.2-STABLE >Organization: >Environment: n/a >Description: A FAQ entry that will discourage people that shouldn't from running -current. >How-To-Repeat: "I just started running -current and now my box freezes!" x 200 >Fix: Apply this patch to doc/FAQ/hackers.sgml: Note: I am more familiar with DocBook than with LinuxDoc, so I may have some of the tags wrong. :( Index: hackers.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /usr/cvs/doc/FAQ/hackers.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.16 diff -u -r1.16 hackers.sgml --- hackers.sgml 1999/04/09 15:43:23 1.16 +++ hackers.sgml 1999/07/11 13:54:49 @@ -35,6 +35,96 @@ + Why shouldn't I just go ahead and run -current? That's got + all the latest stuff, right? + + +

4.0 is the next major release of FreeBSD. For now, and for a + while, all -stable releases of FreeBSD will be in the 3.x + line. These are minor releases, which do not introduce big + changes and we try our best to avoid breaking compatibility + backward compatibility (binary, file formats, etc). + +

Meanwhile, our fearless developers are cooking the 4.0 + version. This branch is known as 4.0-current, or just -current + (since when 4.0 becomes stable, the current branch will become + 5.0-current). + +

Our developers are fearless because a -current system is + something in development, and, thus, subject to all sort of + bugs, which can wipe out your disks, burn your monitor, erase + your BIOS, overheat your CPU(s), spit out your PCI cards, send + the fans flying (sometimes throwing stuff at them first), make + international phone calls to phone sex services, print + pornography until your printer runs out of paper/toner (sorry, + no such luck... it's just the Stark report), send insulting + faxes to your boss, cheat on the mob and blame you for it, + attract attention for the gentle I.R.S. personel, blow your + house fuses, open the gas and then set your house on fire, make + your girlfriend break up with you (or your wife cheat on you), + and bomb Yugoslavia. This last one we are trying to debug, + though [NOTE: at the time of this writing, we have reports that + this bug has been fixed]. + +

Because of the above, we advise against using -current. If + you so insist, the following rules must be obeyed: + + + Read cvs-all. No, I'm not kidding. I mean it. + + Read freebsd-current. Yeah, that one too. + + If something fails, it's probably because you missed a + message on cvs-all or freebsd-current. + + If that's not the case, it's probably a temporary + bug. Cvsup again after the appropriate time (minimum of one + hour, though one full day is not unreasonable). + + If it still crashes *at the same location*, then it's + probably your fault. Junk your customized settings, and try to + reproduce it with a vanilla system. + + If you can reproduce it even with a vanilla system, then + you might actually have stumbled on a bug. Congratulations! + Find out what the bug is, and send us the patches. + + If you are not capable of the above, you might just keep + quiet and wait until someone fixes it. See steps 1 and 2 for + how do you know someone fixed it. + + On the other hand, you might help track down the + bug. See the handbook on getting crash dumps, kernel traces, + and such stuff. + + If you loose all data on your hard disks because of a + bug, that's one of the risks of running -current. Either you + can deal with that, or you shouldn't be running + -current. + + +

These rules, though written tongue-in-cheek, are for + real. FreeBSD 4.0-current is If you can live with that, and think you have any compelling + reason to run -current, read the handbook for further + instructions. + + +

Sorry if this seems too harsh, but many people are just not + used to the concept of a development tree available publicly, + and think of it as the "latest version". It is Contributed by + . + + + How do I make my own custom release? >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message