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From: taob@gate.sinica.edu.tw (Brian Tao)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Why isn't NetBSD popular?
Date: 17 Aug 1995 07:34:58 GMT
Organization: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica
Lines: 30
Message-ID: <40urf2$t5s@gate.sinica.edu.tw>
References: <DDACyE.CBt@seas.ucla.edu> <40ohil$8rb@pandora.sdsu.edu> <DDD8FG.L0B@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> <40t6tu$2cv@sundog.tiac.net>
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:738 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:4437 comp.os.linux.advocacy:16399
In article <40t6tu$2cv@sundog.tiac.net>, Jim Williams <williams@tiac.net> wrote:
>
>If you really like frequent releases then perhaps you should switch
>to the Linux 1.3.x experimental kernel series. I hear they release
>new patches just about every night.
The FreeBSD code commit system (as I understand it) is probably
the most flexible among the three free OS's. If you want rapid-fire
Linux-like daily updates to the kernel and the rest of the tree, go
with the 2.2-current hackers and sup the latest changes every night.
If you're like me, you want to stay reasonably up-to-date but not
spend all your time doing make world's, watch for the 2.1-stable
releases. They come out about once a month or so and are consistently
robust enough to use on production machines. Then for those with
mission-critical servers, actual -release distributions (i.e., what
Walnut Creek will press onto a CD-ROM) will be more to your liking.
These three sharply-defined OS release levels makes it very easy
for a FreeBSD user to decide how quickly or slowly to upgrade. When I
used to run Linux, I felt I was under pressure to grab the latest
1.xx.yy release every other day. There is no obvious differentiation
in the Linux release schedule, besides odd vs. even minor version
numbers. If I want a stable Linux kernel, what should I use? With
FreeBSD, it's easy: start with 2.0.5-RELEASE. If you find a bug
that's already been fixed, then try 2.1-STABLE. If you're a developer
and want to hack the latest code, then use 2.2-CURRENT and read the
-current and -commit mailing lists. Nice and clearcut.
--
Brian ("Though this be madness, yet there is method in't") Tao
taob@gate.sinica.edu.tw <-- work ........ play --> taob@io.org