From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Nov 8 20:45:42 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 932AC1065692 for ; Sun, 8 Nov 2009 20:45:42 +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 512508FC33 for ; Sun, 8 Nov 2009 20:45:42 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-195-97-236.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.97.236]) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2586B3D801; Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:45:40 +0100 (CET) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id nA8KjeNl001627; Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:45:40 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:45:40 +0100 From: Polytropon To: Adam Vande More Message-Id: <20091108214540.dd9901c5.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <6201873e0911070857j231331a3n1b9c6fdc53e08bcd@mail.gmail.com> References: <9d972bed0911060931k4ee2a5b7n9d62db23beeb6367@mail.gmail.com> <9d972bed0911070839q3f9ded02q40de4637278bcec9@mail.gmail.com> <6201873e0911070857j231331a3n1b9c6fdc53e08bcd@mail.gmail.com> 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: Roger , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Help understanding basic FreeBSD concepts (ports, updates, jails) 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: Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:45:42 -0000 On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 10:57:54 -0600, Adam Vande More wrote: > There are three basic branches, CURRENT STABLE RELEASE > > You want release. You shouldn't run anything else unless you're willing and > able to help with testing, debugging, and development. That's a quite generic answer, but basically I agree. On a production system, in most cases RELEASE is the branch you want to follow, beginning from X.Y-RELEASE and then tacking the security updates X.Y-RELEASE-pZ. The tool freebsd-update is very good for this task, especially when you're not running a custom kernel. STABLE is a good solution when you want to use a stable system, but are interested in additions between the releases. Things that are tested and found working are present in STABLE and will often appear in the upcoming RELEASE. CURRENT is interesting for you - as Adam said - for testing and development, and if you are intendedly interested in "bleeding edge" software. Note that it can happen that a CURRENT system of today won't build, but will tomorrow. It's the development branch. In any case: You should re-install or re-compile ALL of your applications when you perform the step to a new release (e. g. 7.2 -> 8.0). You can install the 7-compat port to avoid this (downward compatibility libraries). -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...