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Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:11:50 -0500
To: andrew clarke <mail@ozzmosis.com>
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Cc: Roger <rnodal@gmail.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org,
	Randi Harper <randi@freebsd.org>
Subject: Re: Help understanding basic FreeBSD concepts (ports, updates,
 jails)
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andrew clarke writes:

>  > Don't bother with any of that. Just use portsnap. It's also part of
>  > base, and was written by the same person that wrote freebsd-update.
>  > It's lovely and much faster, although some people may argue with me on
>  > that.
>  
>  > For your system, use freebsd-update.
>  
>  Seconded.  Portsnap and freebsd-update are a cinch to use.

	As for freebsd-update:
	It has limitations; /inter alia/ see the DESCRIPTION section of
the man page.  If that's something one can live with, use it.
	If it's not, then the OP really needs to get familiar with the
update-from-source method as described in the Handbook.  It's scary
at first (actually, it's still a teeny bit scary after ten years).
but it helps one understand what goes into making a working system
... which is a really good thing if something does manage to go
Horribly Wrong(tm).


				Robert Huff