Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release

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To: Nicolas Letellier <nicolas@...>
Cc: <misc@...>
Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2008 - 7:54 pm

Hi Nicolas,

please also read the FAQ on www.openbsd.org.

Nicolas Letellier schrieb am Wed, Jan 02, 2008 at 10:50:43PM +0100:

> If I want the last packages/ports, I use a -current system, with

Right.

> On the other hand, they're developpement versions,

No, mostly wrong.
The ports in the -current ports tree are usually ports of stable
upstream releases. That's actually an established policy.

There are some exceptions where upstream development versions
get built by the ports tree, for example given any of the following
conditions:

- lack of any stable upstream distribution
- stable upstream distribution hopelessly outdated
and upstream development distribution reasonably solid
- vastly different upstream stable and dev distributions
and considerable interest to have each of them available

> If I want a *very* stable system (in production for example),

You can also use -current snapshots.
It requires a bit more experience (ability to act when it's needed,
and ability to realize when action is needed), and a bit more work
(slightly more frequent upgrades, say half a doven or a dozen times
a year instead of twice a year).

> On the other hand, packages and ports are not updated even it's

If you build a specialized server running two or three daemons,
watch the relevant commits, understand them and backport them
yourself when needed. In many cases, the task of backporting
one single ports security fix to -stable is manageable.
In case you fail, pay someone for doing that particular job for
you (in case you know any IT consultant with sufficient
programming skills).

If you build a desktop system requiring 327639245120 packages,
personally, IN THE CURRENT EXCEPTIONAL SITUATION, i would suggest
to just run a -current snapshot. Should the -stable ports tree
ever get resurrected (which could hopefully happen), i shall
not uphold that suggestion.

> If I use openbsd, it's for security and stability.

No, you never run -release. That's not secure.
You run -current, -stable or -release+patches.

> with no security updates of packages/ports,

That's a frequently answered question, read the archives and take
care not to get yourself flamed.

In a nutshell: OpenBSD is a system maintained by a bunch of people
for their own enjoyment and use. For those people, the developers,
there is no choice between security and stability, they just run
-current, so they get BOTH security and stability - or else, in case
they break the CVS, they will be gently shot down by Theo. ;-)

Popularity is not among the OpenBSD project goals.
That it's an excellent system for non-developers to use, too,
is mostly a fortunate accident - even though that's not a matter
of luck, but a direct, necessary consequence of the project goals
and the team sticking to them, of course.

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Messages in current thread:
possible bug in CDROM recognition?, Russell Gadd, (Wed Jan 2, 5:36 pm)
Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Nicolas Letellier, (Wed Jan 2, 5:50 pm)
Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Ingo Schwarze, (Wed Jan 2, 7:54 pm)
Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Nick Holland, (Wed Jan 2, 7:51 pm)
Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Nicolas Letellier, (Thu Jan 3, 4:27 am)
Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Steven Surdock, (Thu Jan 3, 1:21 am)
Re: Updated ports/packages in -stable/-release, Martin Schröder, (Wed Jan 2, 7:26 pm)