On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 18:45:00 -0500 nixlists <nixmli...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If I upgrade to -current, don't I risk stability and security issues; > or are the chances of that are very low as far as this OS goes? (sigh) If you run *any* software, you are running the risk of stability and security issues! --It's just a fact of life. > Long > time ago I did try development versions of NetBSD and FreeBSD because > I needed support for hardware that -stable didn't have, and they were > quite shaky. Or do you guys just want more people to use -current for > the project progress reasons? I thought -current was for people who > are more into hacking code than running a stable server. > With only a few rare exceptions, the OpenBSD -current branch is typically almost as "stable" as the -stable branch *BUT* you get the advantage of more recent versions of ports, albeit at the cost of needing to compile them yourself. Running -current is more work, and requires more knowledge, but it is well worth the effort. There are always some caveats when running the -current branch, so you'll need to pay attention to: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/current.html Often, it is easiest to do a completely new, full installation from a snapshot. This can prevent you from needing to fix the various caveats such as file format changes, requirements and whatnot (typically listed in the URL above). On the other hand, if you don't mind making the needed changes manually, you can also do an "upgrade" (rather than a full install) as Stuart mentioned. Since you should *ALWAYS* have a backup of your data when doing either a full install or an upgrade, and often you'll want to be rebuilding and reinstalling a lot of your ports, the time you might save doing an update isn't much... --particularly if you lose an hour or two because you missed something. I spent a few years only running -stable, and of course, doing my own back-porting of the newer versions of the ports I needed/wanted to update. It was a time consuming pain in the ass, but I learned a lot because I was completely *on* *my* *own* --back porting is not supported. You (and me as well) are far better off just running -current than messing around with a custom system made from random parts from both -stable and -current. Search the misc@ mail list archives for the term "curmudgeon" (someone too set in their old ways of doing things), and you'll probably learn something from the discussions. There are *lots* of older sysadmins who are afraid of running the -current branch, but their fears are mostly due to not realizing the world has changed in the last 20-40 years. -- J.C. Roberts
