tracking cvsup p5 vs STABLE ?

[J.D. Bronson]

can someone explain to me the difference here:

FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE-p5

vs

FreeBSD 5.3-STABLE


..I wanted to track 5.3-STABLE, but when I did that I didnt get some of the 
newer files (still unknown why). I was especially interested in the SMP fixes.


I was having random reboots and wanted to start with a fresh 5.3 install 
and then cvsup from there, but when I tracked STABLE, I didnt get some of 
the files that 5.3-REL tracking gave me.

Am I missing something here?

I dont want to be on BLEEDING edge, but on something more than 5.3-REL and 
yet stable.

thanks -

Jeff