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Date:      Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:53:32 +0200
From:      Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To:        claudiu vasadi <claudiu.vasadi@gmail.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: apps update from ports
Message-ID:  <20100727195332.198ef7a5.freebsd@edvax.de>
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimWp1X6gqPcMjcu%2BncQj5TTANgqkO4Q-iCFtuyi@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <AANLkTimWp1X6gqPcMjcu%2BncQj5TTANgqkO4Q-iCFtuyi@mail.gmail.com>

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On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:16:15 +0200, claudiu vasadi <claudiu.vasadi@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello fellas,
> 
> I was wondering about your update strategy. Do you update your apps as soon
> as a new version is available in the ports ? Or do you follow the "if it
> works, don't touch it" strategy ?

I think you will get similar answers, but let me tell you a few
words about my individual update strategy:

I DO BOTH.

For servers, especially where I run critical apps, I follow the
bugs and announce lists (of the installed programs) to decide if
an update is required due to security reasons, then I update.

Also, customer requirements are important. If a functionality
is required that is only provided by a newer version, then I
also update.

Finally, when I want to test out new features, both in OS and
applications, I usually go with "bleeding edge". I'm often
surprised to see how well things do work.

For my home system, as I have quite "static requirements", I
go with "no broke, no repair". That's why I'm still on version
7 here, and everything works. Due to the fact that my hardware
here is not "bleeding edge", I can't afford most "modern"
applications, e. g. compiling OpenOffice is a no-go here. So
my installation stays the same for a very long time, usually
until it breaks (as it happened to be beloved version 5 system
which did run PERFECTLY, until total file system crash).

I like the concept of "install once, then use", but it doesn't
always fit, as to be seen in the first examples.

I also have machines that have been set into work many years
ago, e. g. a 300 MHz P2. I do not touch it in any way as I don't
want to lose its functionality. So I don't update anything there.
It's no problem as there are no security considerations related
to such specific systems.



> I'm guessing "portupgrade" is your preferred way of doing this hence, do you
> also choose -P or -PP ?

No, if I want to go with packages (I really like them), I use pkg_add -r. 
When I did use portupgrade, make and pkg_add altogether, pkgdb -aF was
a helpful tool. In fact, there are few cases when I really have to
compile things myself (e. g. X without HAL/DBUS stuff, OpenOffice,
which I don't compile, mplayer, where several options have to be set
to make it usable, and very few others). Precompiled packages are a
very comfortable way of installing software in short time.

I've been advised that portmaster is, in some regards, the better
port management program. I've tried it out and found that it's really
good.

There are also others, like portmanager, but I haven't tried this
one yet, so I can't tell you how it fits into the picture.




-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...



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