I want to upgrade an old (8.3-RC2) FReeBSD installation, but can't install subversion

[Royce Williams]

On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 6:38 AM, Michael Gmelin <freebsd at grem.de> wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:26:42 +0200
> Michelle Sullivan <michelle at sorbs.net> wrote:
>
>> Daniel Austin via freebsd-ports wrote:
>> >
>> > On 27/08/2014 03:13, Alfred Perlstein wrote:
>> >>> While I understandthe need to get rid of the old system, three
>> >>> needs ot be
>> >>> a clear path for those wanting ot update old versions. I hit this
>> >>> yesterday
>> >>> trying to upgrade a 9.0-RC2 system and it was a real pain.
>> >> Can't just do a checkout on an older machine and tar/rsync it over?
>> >
>> > Or download the src tarballs from a current release from one of the
>> > FTP mirrors?
>> >
>> > Or, if currently on a -RELEASE, use freebsd-update first?
>> >
>>
>> Subject says the system is 8.3-RC2 ... so not on a -RELEASE
>
> I think he was answering the general "there needs to be a clear path
> for those wanting to update old versions" requirement. Upgrading from
> RC, downloading src.txz seems like a reasonable approach.

Just because it says RC doesn't mean that it can't be upgraded with
freebsd-update.

If freebsd-update was used to bump to BETA, RC, PRERELEASE, etc. then
it can be used to bump again to RELEASE.  (I assume that this
functionality isn't going away just because of package changes.)

Actually, can freebsd-update be used to switch from tracking STABLE to
tracking a subsequent release?  I know that the diffs aren't on the
freebsd-update servers for that, but could it be forced, and then
follow up with a manual merge of /etc changes?

Royce