From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Oct 26 14:17:13 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 27148106566B for ; Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:17:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fbsd06+3C=99394c1b@mlists.homeunix.com) Received: from fallback-in1.mxes.net (fallback-out1.mxes.net [216.86.168.190]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EDC808FC0A for ; Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:17:12 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fbsd06+3C=99394c1b@mlists.homeunix.com) Received: from mxout-08.mxes.net (mxout-08.mxes.net [216.86.168.183]) by fallback-in1.mxes.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 24005163DEF for ; Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:05:18 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gumby.homeunix.com (unknown [87.81.140.128]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.mxes.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 01F45D05A6 for ; Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:05:15 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:05:12 +0000 From: RW To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20081026140512.2813a544@gumby.homeunix.com> In-Reply-To: <4902C5B6.7090206@infracaninophile.co.uk> References: <20081025013323.5483e265@gumby.homeunix.com> <4902C5B6.7090206@infracaninophile.co.uk> X-Mailer: Claws Mail 3.5.0 (GTK+ 2.12.11; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: duplicate a drive X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:17:13 -0000 On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:07:34 +0100 Matthew Seaman wrote: > RW wrote: > > On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:19:23 -0600 (MDT) > > Warren Block wrote: > > > >> http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/disks.html#NEW-HUGE-DISK > >> > > > > "The best way is to reinstall the OS on the new disk, then move the > > user data over. This is highly recommended if you have been > > tracking -STABLE for more than one release, or have updated a > > release instead of installing a new one." > > > > > > "Highly recommended" seems a very strange thing for the FAQ to be > > saying. It's implying that FreeBSD base-system upgrades are a > > bit flaky. It even goes on "Should you decide not to do a fresh > > install", as if to say "you have been warned". > > > > Unless my experience is abnormal, we seem to be publishing our own > > FUD. > > When does a valid assessment of the difficulty of a certain course of > action turn into an unjustified attempt to spread Fear, Uncertainty > and Doubt? This is not FUD because it is absolutely true. You will > get better results by making a new install on your new hard drive and > merging over your data. ... install 7.x into a disk layout originally > designed for 4.x you ... change from UFS1 to UFS2 ... across major > version numbers I don't think anyone would dispute that a new disk is a good opportunity to avoid a major release upgrade, or to fix problems on a very old installation. What it says is: "highly recommended if you ... have updated a release". If you have a system that's been across a few minor releases and is working well, I would think the risks of screwing it up on a reinstall greatly outweigh any benefits - particularly if it involves reinstalling a lot of ports.