Date: 01 May 2003 12:00:47 -0400 From: Adam <blueeskimo@gmx.net> To: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Portupgrade, XFree86, and Gnome Message-ID: <1051804847.4315.11.camel@jake> In-Reply-To: <020d01c30ff6$9dfe5c50$6e2a6ba5@tagalong> References: <020d01c30ff6$9dfe5c50$6e2a6ba5@tagalong>
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--=-WomcC5LrQQZS5rU2xTLd Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Thu, 2003-05-01 at 11:30, Drew Tomlinson wrote: > I've looked but have been unable to find an answer to my question. Can I > use portupgrade to upgrade XWindows related components while XWindows is > running? For example, I use the Gnome desktop. If I open a terminal win= dow > on the desktop, can I upgrade Gnome and XFree86 related items that need > updating in this window? Or is it required that I exit my desktop sessio= n, > kill gdm, and then kill XFree86 and run portupgrade from a console sessio= n? > Or maybe this isn't required but preferred? I'm confused. FreeBSD (as well as the other Unices) do not have any concept of Process-->File mapping like Win32. In other words, there is no problem of overwriting the file executed to create a currently running process. However, I am always wary of updating my XFree86 or window manager while they're running. If I understand correctly, various modules get loaded and unloaded dynamically by X as necessary. If portupgrade upgrades one of those modules, it's possible (in theory) that the new module isn't 100% compatible with the old version of X (which is the currently running process). So, if the updated module gets loaded by the existing X process, bad things *could* happen ... So, what is my answer to your question? You can probably get away with it most of the time, but there is a small chance that you could encounter problems. My advice: install and configure some console apps to tide you over while X isn't running. Eg, centericq, mutt, elinks, irssi. ;p I am not a FreeBSD developer, and I don't really know much about the internal workings of X, but this is my take on things. If I'm completely off my rocker here, someone please correct me. --=20 Adam <blueeskimo@gmx.net> --=-WomcC5LrQQZS5rU2xTLd Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQA+sUSvu3o4GBMSDL4RAhgKAJwJ02UyMfqwqqfDLNznFugn/KuWTwCgqHfI +2RI0VHnG96qzq0B8seFDw8= =vBya -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-WomcC5LrQQZS5rU2xTLd--
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