Newer FreeBSD version for package breaks binary updates

[Michael Gmelin]

> On 15. Jan 2018, at 16:16, Mathieu Arnold <mat at FreeBSD.org> wrote:
> 
>> Le 15/01/2018 à 15:55, Michael Gmelin a écrit :
>> Hi Bapt,
>> 
>> I can't get binary updates anymore, because:
>> 
>> pkg: Newer FreeBSD version for package ....:
>> - package: 1200055
>> - running kernel: 1200054
>> pkg: repository FreeBSD contains packages for wrong OS version:
>> FreeBSD:12:amd64
>> 
>> 
>> Am I misunderstanding this, or does this mean that pkg forces me to
>> update my system before I can install any package updates (even super
>> small ones). This seems like a bad idea that potentially will break many
>> deployments/workflows.
> 
> 
> pkg is telling you "this package was built with 1200055, you are runing
> 1200054, it will probably break" and refuses to install the package.
> 
> If you want to force it, overwrite OSVERSION to 1200055, something like
> `pkg -o OSVERSION=1200055 upgrade`.  But this will probably break the
> packages you install at one point.
> 

I understand that message, but besides that this was hardly a problem in the past (especially for minor version differences), it also forces people to update at the same time as FreeBSD package builders, which has consequences. Is adding this dependency really what we want, will package builder updates scheduled in a predictable way, so system update cycles of users can be aligned, etc.?  Otherwise this just adds another way to cut users from updating packages/forces them back to building packages themselves.

Yours,
Michael