From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Feb 23 23:04:30 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F1FB410656DC for ; Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:04:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from amvandemore@gmail.com) Received: from mail-ew0-f173.google.com (mail-ew0-f173.google.com [209.85.219.173]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5780B8FC25 for ; Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:04:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from amvandemore@gmail.com) Received: by ewy21 with SMTP id 21so162596ewy.19 for ; Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:04:29 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from :user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references:in-reply-to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=mO/8jdFktNK010nPhr0gUJEtsYmKVWXB/XuChxKP/ns=; b=O69VhjTDxOwOpcFZmLipE3iZ9qO2JIAMeqpYhtaSEt5UebtBVD2tA0AfwEHTyvgB4q 8nJMu0GoGebp7LtuDOG6P+QNFsk1mnfIsC6LAJUNr+xMMcaTeXVP6oeJNgrI253nhUmo 9tZz3JO/OsRXx8fjngYEqHbwegWHdL9W3C5Gs= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references :in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=pT2+bq9wQXZKj1QQeQPRyXsGVNGKxYQ7wfigfDh8JreVEnGgfVHOagwkxtf83mmbJH xqm8+ZVx3Z+gNAlsw/w/2QF70Mz/hhb0MLocBMnoAF6o3e1BHaZDugxG5mjNhqAX/R7T iPz8UgY4Crls1cGzk8ZNaqefpl3VKZmC22x3A= Received: by 10.210.127.13 with SMTP id z13mr3820333ebc.137.1235430269508; Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:04:29 -0800 (PST) Received: from ?216.16.29.53? (host-53.216-16-29.iw.net [216.16.29.53]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id 10sm3684982eyd.53.2009.02.23.15.04.27 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:04:28 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <49A32B77.8010202@gmail.com> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:04:23 -0600 From: Adam Vandemore User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (Windows/20081209) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" References: <20090223142559.3c5ff9e9@gom.home> In-Reply-To: <20090223142559.3c5ff9e9@gom.home> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: understanding freebsd development logic X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:04:31 -0000 prad wrote: > i am puzzled by what seems to be almost a parallel processor development > model that exists with freebsd. when 7 came out people were still > working on 6.3 i think it was with the aim of going to 6.4 and now with > 7.x underway, there is work being do for 8 (for which you can get a > snapshot cd. (i seem to recall something similar with debian too). > > why would people work on 7.x (and 6.x as well i guess) if 8 is already available? > Going between branches eg 7.x and 8.x, you may see major kernel changes. Drivers which work in 7 may not work in 8 and vice versa. If you've got something running stable in 7, you're not going upgrade to 8 just for the sake of running 8. Changes in versions can introduce problems, some unforeseen. If you have a known set of functionality that requires tested stability, you should use the most recent RELEASE that covers that functionality. 8.x is not available as a release. Security concerns adds a whole new set of variables to your questions. > is the idea to make each version 'as good as possible' because it would still be useful for older machines? or is it that later versions can utilize code from the earlier versions? or is it something else. I think generally things are developed for CURRENT then back ported as demand and dev time allows. There are always exceptions. -- Adam Vandemore Systems Administrator IMED Mobility (605) 498-1610