Unhappy Xorg upgrade

[Alex Goncharov]

,--- You/vehemens (Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:54:42 -0800) ----*
| On Saturday 31 January 2009 01:25:21 pm Alex Goncharov wrote:
| > So, a *fundamental* (practically an OS component) port is brought in
| > -- and it disables my system.  What is my way of action?  Right --
| > install the old packages, taken from an FTP site (is there a way to
| > get the previous "source", that is all the ports/*/*/Makefile files?
| > Csup can only go forward -- or can it go back?)
| 
| You ignored the first part of the email which is that the ports
| system is flawed due to the lack of a stable versus current branch.

The FreeBSD model as what it is and I, for one, prefer it to Linux
distros' models.  In other words what you call a flaw, I call a
virtue.

| It seems to me that you want to run a stable branch, while the ports
| tree is effectively a current branch.

If somebody tells me that running the new X on my computers will be
better if I switch the base system from STABLE to CURRENT, I'll do it
in a heartbeat.  (In fact one of my other systems does run CURRENT,
only I never installed X there -- I don't use that system as a front
end.)

| > When I install the old packages, I can no longer rebuild and install
| > new (say `csup'ed on 2009-03-01) port components, as one whole -- I
| > can only do it selectively, excluding from the upgrade most
| > X-dependent things.  That sucks and will lead to a problem earlier or
| > later.
| 
| I never update /usr/ports directly.  I have a separate csup ports
| area.  When I update, I save the old ports tree and replace it with
| a new one.  If a problem occurs, I can fall back to the old tree or
| pieces of it.

An interesting model -- but how would you be better off falling back
to the old ports tree in case of a bad (for you) new X?  Yes, you
could rebuild and return to using the old X.  Then what?  Would you be
able to keep up with ports upgrades.

You may assume that X is going to be fixed -- but what if not, in, say
a year?

| Well, it depends on which ports you are updating.

All.

| If you only run X, then I would expect your statement to be correct.

Not sure what you mean here: nobody "runs only X". It's impossible.

| > | And last, many of the video drivers have little if any support.  If
| > | you have something other then ati/intel/nivdia, you should expect
| > | problems.  Input drivers are in a similar state.
| >
| > Both my systems I've been reporting problems with are using the `nv'
| > driver:
| >
| >   $ grep /modules/drivers /var/log/Xorg.0.log
| >   (II) Loading /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//nv_drv.so
| >
| > One system (Dell Latitude) could not be made operational with the new
| > X at all; the other has garbage in the windows and the "captive mouse
| > pointer" -- both issues new in the new X.
| 
| See above :)

Which point? :-)

-- Alex -- alex-goncharov at comcast.net --