OpenBSD 5.6-beta testing begins

[jggimi]

The development of OpenBSD 5.6 is now relatively complete, as the Beta testing phase has begun. Most of the features expected we can expect with 5.6 have been implemented. This is our opportunity to improve the quality of the next release!

For -current users:

• review the Following -current FAQ.
• Upgrade to a new snapshot (recommended) or build on -current from -current sources
• Be sure to report bugs formally with sendbug(1) or informally with Email to misc@.

---
For more on OpenBSD's development cycle, see FAQ 5.1

For a deep dive into the process, see Theo de Raadt's 2009 AsiaBSDCon presentation: The OpenBSD Release Process: A Suucess Story

[comet--berkeley]

This is good to know. I usually run stable, but will now take current out for a drive and kick the tires.

[Oko]

This will be one of more significant releases. Some of my favorites:

Sendmail removed, OpenSMTPd is default.
BIND out, Unbound and NSD are in.
Alt Q out, native queuing in.
OpenSSL replaced with LibreSSL.

[ibara]

Originally Posted by jggimi

Be sure to report bugs formally with sendbug(1) or informally with Email to misc@.

Let me emphasize that myself: we do not know about any problem unless it is reported to the mailing list. And we cannot fix any problem we do not know about.

[jggimi]

Originally Posted by Oko

BIND out...

It's not out, yet. BIND's named(8) is still in the build, still in /etc/rc.conf, and still in /etc/rc.d.

...and NDS are in.

Did you mean nsd(8)? If so, it was enabled in 2011 in time for 4.9-release.

Alt Q out, native queuing in.

For clarity, the transition period to the new queuing subsystem in PF will be complete. The new subsystem was added in 5.5., and now altq is removed.

OpenSSL replaced with LibreSSL.

Agreed.

[comet--berkeley]

Originally Posted by jggimi

The development of OpenBSD 5.6 is now relatively complete, as the Beta testing phase has begun.
FAQ 5.1
...

Though the Beta testing is begun, the development is not complete when it comes to packages. Most of the current packages seem to mismatch the current libraries.

And so I find that I must manually compile all "package" software from ports...

Hopefully the packages will be ready soon to make it easier to test.

[jggimi]

This is always a moving target. Snapshots are built by different teams, on different systems, and at a different cadence than "snapshot packages". Those packages are made available as a convenience, and there is no implied sync with snapshots.

In reply to a similar query, Theo posted this comment regarding the CVS log entry I linked in the top post here:

That is not an announcement. It is one of a series of steps to renumbering the release, and it means there will be breakage.

So treat these snapshots as you would any other. Major developments have completed, and minor developments and changes still continue.

As the time of -release tagging approaches, the ports tree will be frozen and development will cease except for any remaining break/fix patches. This first part of the Beta period is intended find and fix as much as possible before the development freeze begins.

[jggimi]

5.6 release engineering is now getting underway.

Those who are testing -current, please be sure to report any problems to the bugs@, misc@, or ports@ mailing lists.

[angryfirelord]

So far so good. No problems with broken packages.