4.8 > 4.10 successful. Now > 5.x?

[Steven Friedrich]

On Wednesday 25 August 2004 02:52 pm, Curtis Vaughan wrote:
> Ok, it looks as though cvsup from 4.8 to 4.10 has been successful.
>
> Now, first off I want to say that I want this server to be a second
> Postfix / Courier IMAP server (our other is on a RedHat server, but
> that's irrelevant).
>
> I feel that I should go ahead and first upgrade to 5.x and then install
> Postfix and everything else I will need (e.g., PAM/LDAP authentication,
> user folders, Samba, etc.).  Otherwise, I'm afraid I stop at 4.10 and
> install all the applications I need, then when I really want to upgrade
> to 5.x I may find myself in trouble. But I am interested in what the
> rest of you think.
>
> Curtis
>
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If you're new to FreeBSD, please don't cvsup your way from 4.x to 5.x.  Even 
experienced people get burned.

4.x is really a great unix.  Very stable and plenty capable.

If the software you're hoping to run REQUIRES features in 5.x, I recommend 
installing it directly.  Meantime, I'd use mobile racks and install 4.x on 
one so I could learn more about maintaining FreeBSD, installing 
ports/packages, etc.

I have two identical boxes at home with RAID pairs.  So on one pair I have 
WinBlows xp (which can only run in one of the two boxes because if WinBlows 
detects hardware changes, they'll disable the OS and you'll have to call them 
to get back in).

Other pairs include:
lightning - FreeBSD 4.10-STABLE
daemon - FreeBSD 4.10-STABLE
gandalf - FreeBSD 5.2.1-CURRENT
freakinBSD - FreeBSD 5.2.1-CURRENT

So these pairs can be slid into EITHER box and run just fine (talk about 
recovering from a hardware failure quickly!)

5.x is bleeding edge and too many inexperienced people are running it.  I 
track it merely for the learning experience.  I started as a data systems 
tech in the Navy in 1976. I've been a field service engineer, level-3 tech 
support, tech writer, programmer, sys admin, and janitor 8oP, and I am 
challenged trying to track -CURRENT.

People who want production machines shoudn't be tracking -CURRENT or -STABLE, 
IMHO.  They should jump from release to release, i.e., run 4.9 until 4.10 has 
been out for a couple months, etc.  Let OTHER people be beta sites.

YMMV.