Lifetime of FreeBSD branches

[Joel]

Random comment from the peanut gallery, but ...

> >> Thanks for the info guys. Does this "security support" also mean that
> >> current ports will be compatible with the release?
> >
> > No, there are no guarantees about that.  The ports/ people generally
> > try to make things work with older releases, but there are no gurantees
> > there.  It's simply too much work to make such guarantees, and this is
> > after all an volunteer project (for most parts anyway). See also
> > http://www.freebsd.org/ports/ for the "official" statement.
> 
> Right, i didnt think so. Debian is a volunteer project too, and their
> packaging system supports all of their branches. I guess i should look
> into rolling my own packages, to be sure. And yes, i realize that we just
> dont have an infrastructure for something like this.

I'm thinking that, if a company really doesn't have the infrastructure,
there are several good options. You mention Linux. MacOSX is closer to
the BSDs than Linux in many ways, tends to have relatively long-term
stability, and you can pay Apple for a rather high level of support if
you join their developer's program.

The best option, however, may be to invest in the infrastructure -- a
long term relationship with a qualified contractor, or even an employee
whose primary duty would be to (learn how to) do the heavy lifting on
backporting and upgrading. That way, the OS itself becomes more a part
of the company's resources.

--
Joel Rees   <rees at ddcom.co.jp>
digitcom, inc.   株式会社デジコム
Kobe, Japan   +81-78-672-8800
** <http://www.ddcom.co.jp> **