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Date:      Mon, 25 May 2026 18:28:46 +0900
From:      Takashi Shimizu <qqyr7xx9k@shirt.ocn.ne.jp>
To:        vermaden <vermaden@interia.pl>, freebsd-stable@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Proposal: Improve BE naming convention in freebsd-update install
Message-ID:  <be295f98-e6c8-4490-ac4a-fb26735b69d5@shirt.ocn.ne.jp>
In-Reply-To: <7a0f1e46-b18d-455d-9b1c-f93131dae0bb@interia.pl>
References:  <70da0c5b-c865-44e9-8c19-abb1cd779efe@shirt.ocn.ne.jp> <7a0f1e46-b18d-455d-9b1c-f93131dae0bb@interia.pl>

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[-- Attachment #1 --]
On 5/25/26 16:51, vermaden wrote:
>
> To understand 'default' name choose you will have to move back in time 
> to 2012 when I implemented *beadm(8)* for FreeBSD:
>
> - https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/howto-freebsd-zfs-madness.31662/
>
> The *pool/ROOT/default *was back then (and probably is still now) used 
> by default on Solaris/Illumos - so I just recreated that - along with 
> *beadm(8) *tool - its parameters and messages.
>
> Of course it can be changed - right now I use something like that 
> personally:
>
> f25 vermaden ~ %*beadm list*
> BE            Active Mountpoint  Space Created
> 14.4          NR     /           29.3G 2026-03-01 11:03
> 14.4.safe.OLD -      -            7.3G 2026-05-08 01:19
> 14.4.safe     -      -            1.6G 2026-05-18 20:48
> 15.0          -      -           12.7G 2026-05-21 12:24

Thank you for the valuable responses.

To clarify my proposal: I was not suggesting a naming convention for 
users to follow manually. The intent was that freebsd-update itself 
automatically renames the current BE to "HEAD" after each install. This 
guarantees that "HEAD" always refers to the latest state managed by 
freebsd-update, without any user intervention.

I should be transparent that I was personally misled by the 
automatically generated BE names and lost considerable time as a result. 
The BE name said "p8" but the system was actually running "p9". The 
snapshot with the newer timestamp turned out to be the older state. I 
suspect other users have fallen into the same trap.

I actively promote FreeBSD to Japanese users through social media, and 
one of my key messages is that FreeBSD with ZFS and Boot Environments 
allows safe and confident system updates. This proposal comes from a 
wish to make that experience better for users who are new to FreeBSD.

If it does not conflict with established conventions, I would be 
grateful if this could be reconsidered. And even if the current behavior 
remains unchanged, I am thankful that the topic was worth discussing.

Thank you for the links as well. I will read them carefully.

Takashi

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    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/25/26 16:51, vermaden wrote:</div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
      cite="mid:7a0f1e46-b18d-455d-9b1c-f93131dae0bb@interia.pl">
      <p>To understand 'default' name choose you will have to move back
        in time to 2012 when I implemented <b>beadm(8)</b> for FreeBSD:</p>
      <p>- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/howto-freebsd-zfs-madness.31662/"
          moz-do-not-send="true">https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/howto-freebsd-zfs-madness.31662/</a></p>;
      <p>The <b>pool/ROOT/default </b>was back then (and probably is
        still now) used by default on Solaris/Illumos - so I just
        recreated that - along with <b>beadm(8) </b>tool - its
        parameters and messages.</p>
      <p>Of course it can be changed - right now I use something like
        that personally:</p>
      <pre>f25 vermaden ~ % <b>beadm list</b>
BE            Active Mountpoint  Space Created
14.4          NR     /           29.3G 2026-03-01 11:03
14.4.safe.OLD -      -            7.3G 2026-05-08 01:19
14.4.safe     -      -            1.6G 2026-05-18 20:48
15.0          -      -           12.7G 2026-05-21 12:24</pre>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
    <p>Thank you for the valuable responses.</p>
    <p>To clarify my proposal: I was not suggesting a naming convention
      for users to follow manually. The intent was that freebsd-update
      itself automatically renames the current BE to "HEAD" after each
      install. This guarantees that "HEAD" always refers to the latest
      state managed by freebsd-update, without any user intervention.</p>
    <p>I should be transparent that I was personally misled by the
      automatically generated BE names and lost considerable time as a
      result. The BE name said "p8" but the system was actually running
      "p9". The snapshot with the newer timestamp turned out to be the
      older state. I suspect other users have fallen into the same trap.</p>
    <p>I actively promote FreeBSD to Japanese users through social
      media, and one of my key messages is that FreeBSD with ZFS and
      Boot Environments allows safe and confident system updates. This
      proposal comes from a wish to make that experience better for
      users who are new to FreeBSD.</p>
    <p>If it does not conflict with established conventions, I would be
      grateful if this could be reconsidered. And even if the current
      behavior remains unchanged, I am thankful that the topic was worth
      discussing.</p>
    <p>Thank you for the links as well. I will read them carefully.</p>
    <p>Takashi</p>
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