[ocicat]

Originally Posted by betweendayandnight

My I suggest that what you wrote above be put into a file called README1st and uploaded to the snapshots directory of all the FTP mirrors. This way new converts to OpenBSD will have a clear idea of what they are going to download.

Various points. Note that I am editorializing from my own experience.

• While this is a nice idea, daemonforums is a third-party site which has no affliliation with the OpenBSD project. There are a few project developers who read & respond to questions here, but the majority of members & regulars are simply users just like you. I am a user just as you. I have submitted diff's & bug reports, & some have been incorporated into CVS, but I have no commit privileges.
• The OpenBSD project is small, & it gets a lot accomplished with very little resources. The culture focuses on submitted diff's, & rightfully so. Ultimately, it is the behavior of code which defines the system, & talk is cheap. Keeping discussion at the level of "what specific changes need to take place in the code" helps move conversation forward. Any user is free to submit diff's to the project, & the developers will earnestly evaluate whether those changes work & advance the goals of the project. All submitted diff's are not accepted, & that is the way development should occur. There may be a better way to accomplish the same goal.

If you believe a newbie document needs to be made available, construct what you think needs to be its contents, & submit it to the project for consideration. I would suggest you study all collateral documentation first to determine if your proposal(s) are not already found elsewhere.

What's meant by "head of the CVS repository?

CVS is a source control software, & the one used by the OpenBSD project. You can download the repository or view it online:

http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/

Basically, all revisions of code are tracked & maintained.

Periodically, code is tagged with a label which also defines a branch. As examples,

• All code defining OpenBSD 5.7-release can be found in the branch called OPENBSD_5_7_BASE. The official CD images are pressed from this branch, & once created, this branch never changes. Ever.
• When OPENBSD_5_7_BASE is created, the tag for OPENBSD_5_7 is also created. This defines the -stable branch. Some changes will be back-ported to this branch.
• All code checked into CVS which does not target a specific branch implicitly go into HEAD which is the development branch.

The "head of the CVS repository" is the branch defining -current. Yes, the parlance of source control can be odd, but this is the world developers live in.

More information can be found at the cvs(1) manpage.

Does building packages from source cause the --current version to become insecure (that is, vulnerable) and unstable?

Some consessions have to be made in building ports. You will find discussion in Section 15 of the FAQ. I would recommend you study this section first, & come back with further questions based on your readings.