From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jul 27 17:53:35 2010 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 C218E106564A for ; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:53:35 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 837098FC1A for ; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:53:35 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-195-179-206.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.179.206]) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 472F53D524; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:53:32 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id o6RHrXvE001542; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:53:33 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:53:32 +0200 From: Polytropon To: claudiu vasadi Message-Id: <20100727195332.198ef7a5.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.4.7 (GTK+ 2.12.1; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: apps update from ports X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:53:35 -0000 On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:16:15 +0200, claudiu vasadi 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, ...