Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 14:45:07 -0400 From: mpd <mpd@rochester.rr.com> To: lawmay@ki.se Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Newbie: STABLE vs RELEASE? Message-ID: <20020419144507.A700@rochester.rr.com> In-Reply-To: <3cc05d4f.66f4.0@mbox.ki.se>; from Lawrence.Mayer@dsg.ki.se on Fri, Apr 19, 2002 at 08:09:19PM %2B0200 References: <3cc05d4f.66f4.0@mbox.ki.se>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Fri, Apr 19, 2002 at 08:09:19PM +0200, Lawrence.Mayer@dsg.ki.se wrote: > Hi, > > I've never used Unix before and am planning my first FreeBSD installation. My > machine is relatively old (Pentium 133MHz with 64 MB RAM, 1.5GB harddrive) and > will be used strictly as a DESKTOP: primarily a latex workstation, secondarily > for internet surfing/email. > > I need XFree 4.2.0, which supports my older video card (XFree 4.1.x does not, > and XFree 3.x lacks antialiasing etc). > But the precompiled binary of XFree 4.2.0 > is only available on the STABLE branch (e.g. branches/4.0-stable/packages), > NOT on the RELEASE branch (e.g. releases/i386/4.5-RELEASE/packages). > > 1. Why are there three separate branches of precompiled applications: CURRENT > (branches/-current/packages), STABLE (branches/4.0-stable/packages) and RELEASE > (releases/i386/4.5-RELEASE/packages)? How do they differ? > In particular: > > a. Are the CURRENT precompiled applications considered less stable than the > STABLE ones, which are in turn less stable than the RELEASE ones? > > b. Were the CURRENT precompiled applications compiled against FreeBSD CURRENT? > Likewise, were the STABLE precompiled applications compiled against FreeBSD > STABLE, and the RELEASE applications against FreeBSD RELEASE? This is in the first section of the FAQ. > > > 2. If the answer to (1b) above is "yes", should I run the same branch of FreeBSD > that my precompiled applications were compiled against? > > In particular: > > a. As someone with no Unix experience whatsoever, I have been advised to > start with FreeBSD RELEASE before trying to tackle FreeBSD STABLE. One reason to not start with -STABLE is because there aren't ISO images of it. -RELEASE is just a snapshot of the -STABLE branch which is packaged up onto CDs and sold. Upgrading -RELEASE to -STABLE is a relatively easy procedure that's well documented in many places. Also, because -STABLE is a living branch, *very* occasionally you'll grab the code in the middle of a commit, and get an inconsistent source tree. Waiting a short time and re-cvsupping should fix that. > But what > if I need precompiled applications (such as XFree 4.2.0), which are not available > on the RELEASE branch (releases/i386/4.5-RELEASE/packages) but only on the STABLE > branch (branches/4.0-stable/packages)? Does that mean that I should install > FreeBSD STABLE after all? You can use the ports system, which should be fine in either case. You can try to install the 4.5-STABLE X 4.2.0 package on a 4.5-RELEASE system. In the worst case, it won't work, and you can uninstall it easily. It will probably work fine, though. > > b. If I do install FreeBSD STABLE due to (2a) above, should I obtain ALL > of my precompiled applications from the STABLE branch (branches/4.0-stable/packages), > even if some of them are also available on the RELEASE branch (releases/i386/4.5-RELEASE/packages)? Yes. The -STABLE ones are the latest versions, including security fixes along with more recent versions. Then again, I would suggest using the ports instead. That way you always have the newest versions. > > > I have dug through the FreeBSD documentation looking for answers to (2). The > closest I could find was the following > > WARNING: While it is possible to update only parts of your source tree, the > only supported update procedure is to update the entire tree and recompile both > userland (i.e., all the programs that run in user space, such as those in /bin > and /sbin) and kernel sources. Updating only part of your source tree, only > the kernel, or only userland will often result in problems. These problems may > range from compile errors to kernel panics or data corruption. (doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/synching.html) > > > 3. Does this quote have any relevance to (2) above? No. The source tree and the ports/packages are separate entities. > > 4. The reason why I have been looking at precompiled applications is that my > machine is relatively slow (Pentium 133MHz with 64 MB RAM, 1.5GB harddrive). > Am I correct in assuming that large applications like XFree 4.2.0, KDE 3.0, > Emacs 21.x, etc would take forever to compile on that machine? Maybe. Define "forever." It may take a few hours to build X or KDE, but it certainly shouldn't take days or anything. I ran FreeBSD in the past for several years on similar hardware, and I didn't use pre-compiled packages at all. Buildworld takes the longest, but even that didn't take more than 6 hours or so. > > 5. What about compiling the kernel? Would that also take forever on my machine? > Should I do it anyway? (E.g because a custom compiled kernel would use less > of my meager resources than a precompiled kernel would?) If I do compile my > own kernel, do I need to compile (some or all of) my applications as well, or > can I continue to use precompiled applications? This is in the handbook. > > 6. Would Xfce 3.8.14 be a better choice for my machine than KDE 3.0 (e.g. by > consuming less of my meager resources)? It consumes fewer resources, yes. Whether or not you like it better is, of course, subjective. > > 7. If so, (a) would Skipstone be a good choice for browser, or would you recommend > another for my machine? (b) Could you recommend an email manager with a user-friendly > GUI? Dunno. I use lynx for 95+% of my browsing, the Mozilla for the rest. I'm not sure Mozilla will run so well on your machine, though. > > > I would greatly appreciate your answers and advice on these matters. I am very > eager to start using FreeBSD. Please read through the FAQ and handbook. Many of the questions you ask are already answered there. They're linked from http://www.freebsd.org on the front page under 'Documentation.' > > Greetings, > Lawrence Mayer <lawmay@ki.se> > Umeå, Sweden > mike -- ___________________________________________________________ "LET'S HAVE A WIENER-ROAST! THE LIGHTNING WILL COOK FOR US!" - Pokey the Penguin from "THE BIG STORM" 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?20020419144507.A700>