DaemonForums  

Go Back   DaemonForums > OpenBSD > OpenBSD Installation and Upgrading

OpenBSD Installation and Upgrading Installing and upgrading OpenBSD.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   (View Single Post)  
Old 2nd October 2008
guitarscn guitarscn is offline
Package Pilot
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 166
Default -Release vs. -Stable

I read that OBSD is working on making -Current better: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq5.html#Flavors
Quote:
In fact, as our hope is to continually improve OpenBSD, the goal is that -current should be more reliable, more secure, and of course, have greater features than -stable. Put bluntly, the "best" version of OpenBSD is -current.
but doesn't seem like it's quite there yet.

But the question I have is, are all the patches applied for -Stable failsafe? Or is there a good chance one might encounter a bug? I know that not everything is perfect, but for security/stability purposes, is it best to just run -Release until the next -Release version, or would running with -Stable be a good choice? (Considering all the major errata fixes and so forth, etc.)
Reply With Quote
  #2   (View Single Post)  
Old 2nd October 2008
ocicat ocicat is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,318
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by guitarscn View Post
...for security/stability purposes, is it best to just run -Release until the next -Release version, or would running with -Stable be a good choice?
Your question is basically asking what are the differences between -release & -stable.
  • -release is static. Once the CVS tree has been formally tagged, the files associated with -release for that particular version will never change. Ever.
  • Any patches made are checked into the -stable branch. Checking out the CVS tree at any particular moment will get the most up-to-date patched version of -release. This would lead one to believe that:
    -stable = -release + published patches
    There was a time when the FAQ mentioned a caveat saying that -stable may additionally contain some minor changes which were considered insufficiently worthy of a published patch for -release. This implied:
    -stable + minor patches >= -release + published patches
    This caveat was removed from the FAQ several releases ago. Although I cannot prove it, I suspect it is fair to assume that this is still the case. Do these minor patches have security/stability implications? Probably not. Most can probably be deemed cosmetic.
As for recommending whether one should run -release or -stable, it depends upon your needs, skill set, hardware resources, & willingness to spend time maintaining your system(s). Obviously a patched installation is more secure/stable than an installation which is not. Whether you go with patching -release or go with -stable is a personal choice. Personally, if these were my two choices I would go with the latter because most of my systems can support compiling.

If your line of questioning is really asking whether there has ever been a patch which has in turn required another patch, search through what information can be found at the following:

http://openbsd.org/errata43.html

This page chronicles all patches issued for all versions.

There is a corollary to this topic which needs to be mentioned. If your data is vital to your business or valuable merely as a property, back it up, & back it up often. Mistakes & disasters happen. The true measure of a sysadmin is not allowing the incident be catastrophic. Being prepared to deal with the situation is the best plan, & having up-to-date backups of important data is a necessary first step.
Reply With Quote
  #3   (View Single Post)  
Old 2nd October 2008
jggimi's Avatar
jggimi jggimi is offline
More noise than signal
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 7,975
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by guitarscn View Post
...but doesn't seem like it's quite there yet.
I think you misunderstand what -current is.

The -current branch of the tree is where all development occurs. This branch is constantly changing. And it will continue to change as long as the OpenBSD Project continues.

If a particular development is not a new feature or new function, but is a security or stability fix, and:
  • if that fix does not require any library change
  • if that fix does not have any infrastructure change
  • if it is deemed significant
  • it may be worked up for the most recent -release and previous -release, as an entry in the -stable branch
  • if that fix is deemed critical, the patch will have individualized installation documentation written, and the errata web pages will be updated appropriately.
Reply With Quote
  #4   (View Single Post)  
Old 2nd October 2008
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
Real Name: N/A, this is the interweb.
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,223
Default

You should know, ocicat & jggimi are this forums local poets.. heed their advice.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Freebsd 7.1-STABLE and dd-wrt v24 syslogd da1 FreeBSD General 9 16th March 2009 05:15 PM
FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE > 7.0-RELEASE Upgrade Marci FreeBSD Installation and Upgrading 2 23rd July 2008 02:10 PM
aaccli - stable carpman FreeBSD Ports and Packages 0 9th July 2008 03:04 PM
OpenBSD -STABLE BSDfan666 OpenBSD General 6 21st May 2008 10:10 PM
-stable question jwhal OpenBSD General 9 15th May 2008 12:29 AM


All times are GMT. The time now is 06:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content copyright © 2007-2010, the authors
Daemon image copyright ©1988, Marshall Kirk McKusick