Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Wed, 30 May 2001 08:06:39 -0700
From:      "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com>
To:        "Dr. Hein" <s.hein@spinner.de>, <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: upgrades [each time more trouble]
Message-ID:  <000101c0e91a$208e6bc0$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>
In-Reply-To: <3B150A3C.A995F11E@spinner.de>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Let me point out that many people, myself included, have
production FreeBSD systems that are quite happy running _older_
versions of FreeBSD.  I even have some 2.2.8 systems still
running.

In my opinion the frequent upgrading is a Windoism that is a
horrible habit introduced by Microsoft, because their answer is
to release buggy software then correct bugs by introducing
upgrades with other bugs.

In my opinion a normal healthy FreeBSD shop is going to have a
mix of FreeBSD systems running different versions.  Do not upgrade
your servers just because a new version of FreeBSD comes out.
Instead only spend time upgrading them when you need to do something
major such as replace hardware or something like that.
If it aint broke, don't fix it!!

(obviously this wouldn't apply to special systems like firewalls,
but it would apply to most general servers behind the firewall)

Ted Mittelstaedt                      tedm@toybox.placo.com
Author of:          The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide
Book website:         http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com


>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
>[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Dr. Hein
>Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 7:57 AM
>To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
>Subject: upgrades [each time more trouble]
>
>
>- my dear !
>
>Upgrading from one FreeBSD version to the next release,
>which  I have repeatedly, successfully, and very happily
>accomplished since FreeBSD Release 2.7  [each time with
>an increasing set of troubles, though] seems to be by now
>[with  release 4.3] a matter of high expertise. - At least,
>it has apparenty become a task for persons, who have not to
>care very much about time as I [a numerical analyst, who mainly
>wants to run rapidly  his many applications]. In fact, I really
>can't afford to look for - and chase through - hundreds of
>loosely distributed man pages, only to get the line printer
>up and running, for instance.
>[I won't speak about the gloating grin of the Linux party liners
>under my colleagues, observing me].
>
>To be concrete in some examples:
>After installing  cups, for instance - why does the pertinent
>printer setup and configuration tool [QT-CUPS, or CUPS WWW.admin.tool]
>not automatically appear in the KDE  Task Manager  [as the two
>do under Mandrake Linux, e.g.] ?
>
>Or:  past a regular apsfilter setup [completely done in the very
>familiar way], why  leads the  first printer call [lp  file1, e.g.]
>to an error message ['lp: error - no default destination available'
>- without any further explication or indication to the non-expert,
>where this may be cured of. - The printer 'lp' was explicitely
>mentioned in the setup configuration] ? And why, by heavens!
>is the 'default destination' of lp not simply made 'available',
>possibly on request, on running apsfilter setup ?
>
>These and further [formerly not encountered] complications may
>have their reasons and justifications. - What I, and certainly
>some other average users, primarily notice is that FreeBSD
>installation and upgrading is becoming each time less handy.
>
>In our company, I fight a hard struggle for the use and maintanance
>of Open Source systems,  in general, and  FreeBSD, in particular.
>With respect to the outcome of this battle I could be more optimistic,
>if I hadn't to spend so many [and each time more] hours for
>post installation/upgrade  tuning of FreeBSD - beside and
>sometimes instead doing my proper job.
>
>With best regards,
>
>Steffen Hein,
>
>Spinner RF Lab, Munich
>numerical department
>Aiblinger Str.30
>D-83620 Westerham,
>Germany
>
>To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
>with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
>

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?000101c0e91a$208e6bc0$1401a8c0>