Hmm, maybe I'm missing something here...
From <http://www.freebsd.org/ports/>:
Search criteria: "php" "5-STABLE/i386":
php5-5.0.3_2
PHP Scripting Language (Apache Module and CLI)
Maintained by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Also listed in: devel www
Requires: apache-1.3.33_1, bison-1.75_2, ...
Description : Sources : Package : Changes : DownloadFrom <http://packages.gentoo.org> :
highest ~ = 5.0.3 highest + = 4.3.10
-------------------------------------------
freebsd... Search criteria: "mysql" "5-STABLE/i386":
mysql-server-5.0.2
Multithreaded SQL database (server)
Maintained by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Requires: libtool-1.5.10, mysql-client-5.0.2
Description : Sources : Package : Changes : Downloadgentoo...
highest ~ = 4.0.23-r2 highest + = 4.0.22-r2
-------------------------------------------
freebsd: Search criteria: "jdk" "5-STABLE/i386":
jdk-1.5.0p1
Java Development Kit 1.5.0
Maintained by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Also listed in: devel
Requires: expat-1.95.8, fontconfig-2.2.3,1, ...
Description : Sources : Changes : Downloadgentoo:
highest + = 1.4.2.07 (1.5.0 is hard masked)
-------------------------------------------
freebsd: Search criteria: "mod_jk" "5-STABLE/i386":
mod_jk2-apache2-2.0.2 and mod_jk2-2.0.2 (for apache 1.3)
gentoo: only mod_jk2 for apache2 and only entered portage in December
--------------------------------------------
freebsd: Search criteria: "cocoon" "5-STABLE/i386":
cocoon-2.1.6
XML Web Development Framework
Maintained by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Also listed in: java
Requires: expat-1.95.8, fontconfig-2.2.3,1, ...
Description : Sources : Package : Changes : Downloadgentoo:
highest ~ = 2.1.6 no + !!
---------------------------------------------
apache: freebsd: 2.1.2_4 gentoo: 2.0.52
perl: freebsd: 5.8.6 gentoo: 5.8.5 (5.8.6 as ~)
python: freebsd: 2.4_1 gentoo: 2.3.4-r1 (2.4 is hard masked)
postgresql: freebsd: 8.0.1 gentoo: 7.4.7 (8.0.1 as ~)
Anyway, maybe I'm not using their search right, but I would hope that specifying "stable" when searching would not return stuff that's not stable. And in any case, freebsd at least has stuff in ports that's not in portage at all.
What's ironic however, is that I don't really care about the new apps that much. Well, the fact that mod_jk wasn't even in portage until a couple months ago was annoying... and eclipse was stuck at 2.1 until just the other day (and when I tried to run it, it froze!). But my I maintain the server for my brother, who does PHP/MySQL development and it's driving him crazy that he can't have version 5 of those. (I won't let him have anything that's masked or out of portage.)
I know, I know, that's a dumb reason to switch OSes... and he doesn't care if it makes my life miserable. But hey, at least he didn't come to me saying he wants to go Red Hat. :-) And, he pays the bills, so...
Anyway, I really appreciate all the comments. Like someone mentioned, the great thing about gentoo is the community. I will definitely update y'all in a couple months. And like I said before, if my brother never gets that practice box up and running, he doesn't get to switch.
b
Wendall Cada wrote:
On Sun, 2005-02-06 at 20:18 -0800, Ben Munat wrote:
Well, it finally happened. My partner has gotten fed up with the snail's pace at which the latest versions of many apps become unmasked -- or even show up -- in portage. PHP 5, MySQL 5, Cocoon 2.1, etc., etc.
As another poster pointed out MySQL 5 is still alpha quality. Copied from their site today: MySQL 5.0 -- Development release (use this for previewing and testing new features)
As for PHP 5, I still think it is beta quality. Not only based on bug fixes, but the fact that several key items in PECL and PEAR are still not functioning with PHP 5. This is a real show stopper in any production environment. If you really need this stuff, it is easy enough to just run everything ~x86 for a testing server. But for production? Only if you like things to be broken all the time. The PHP folks need to first figure out how to fix problems running with Apache 2 before running their mouths about how stable php5 is, but that's another rant all together.
He's gotten to the point -- helped along by a couple portage gaffes lately (PHP/SNMP conflict causing apache not to start, a MySQL upgrade killing libmysqlclient and breaking a number of apps, and my struggles (though probably my fault) with courier the other day) -- where he wants to explore other options. A *nix-geek friend of his has been raving about FreeBSD... and I have to admit that just about everything I've looked for is in the ports collection.
However, since I've been doing 99% of the maintenance of this server, I want to know what I'm in for. So, I'm curious if anyone on the list also runs or has run FreeBSD? If so, what were your impressions? What pitfalls are there? What are the big differences? If you left BSD for Gentoo, why?
It seems like the ports collection offers everything that portage does (it was the inspiration for portage, after all), but their devs are making the latest versions available and stable faster. Is doing "cvsup" is really the same as "emerge sync" and "make install" in a given apps directory the same as "emerge <thatapp>"? Seems like FreeBSD is a winner... what's the catch?
Any and all thoughts welcome...
If you run unstable alpha/beta quality software on FreeBSD, you'll have the same problem. I'm sure you won't find these packages in any stable branch on FreeBSD either. So he'll have to get used to the snails pace that stable software is released. It's just a fact of life no matter what server platform you are using.
Wendall
