On Mon, Aug 04, 2008 at 01:43:31PM -0400, aeonsystems.com wrote:
> Hi
>
> So I've decided to follow -current for real on my production desktop :-)
>
> During my testing (about a month ago) I started with the OpenBSD 4.3
> Release with a few packages installed on it.
> After I built a new kernel, userland and X I found that those
> pre-installed packages continued to work as before.
> I was happy.
>
> So here is the question...
>
> Was I just lucky that the installed packages continued to work after
> upgrading to the (then) -current branch?
No, it's not luck. When rebuilding stuff, you have not replaced the
previous libraries as used by the packages you already had installed.
> Or to say it another way....
>
> when one follows -current aggressively (ie. one rebuilds everything at
> least monthly) should one opt to compile all software from ports, or is the
> package system still useful and reliable?
> My guess is that installing all software from Ports is really the best and
> safest real option.
Unless you're really having fun compiling everything on a continual
basis or have some other valid reason, you may want to look into
upgrading by snapshots every now and then. This way, you can actively
help testing out new stuff in kernel, userland and packages.
> Any insight would be appreciated.
Packages are generally easier (faster) to install than ports since you
don't need to compile everything yourself (same as with the
snapshots).
As for stability, snapshots are generally just as stable as release
versions (or better - remember that OpenBSD development is in
-current, all improvements are there). I've had my first 'real'
problem in a very long time yesterday when the latest snapshot was
somehow broken in transit, giving me an unusable kernel. Had I checked
MD5 sums before installing (something I should have done anyway but
generally neglect), I would have caught this before upgrading.
Cheers,
Paul 'WEiRD' de Weerd
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