update confusion 4.8-STABLE to STABLE = 4.9-PRERELEASE !?

[Matthew Seaman]

On Thu, Oct 02, 2003 at 12:29:20PM +0300, Alin-Adrian Anton wrote:

> Look what happened to me. I had a nice (cute) 4.8-STABLE. From time to 
> time, I update it via cvsup. Ports to CURRENT, system sources to STABLE. 
> Last time I updated from cvsup2.freebsd.org (I tried another one closer 
> too, same result), and hah , after a buildworld, i had a brand new 
> 4.9-PRERELEASE installed. I guess this might be  a bug in cvsup, because 
> this is how my cvsup file looks:
> 
> -----------------------
> *default host=cvsup10.FreeBSD.org
> 
> *default base=/usr
> *default prefix=/usr
> *default release=cvs tag=RELENG_4
> #*default release=cvs tag=.
> 
> *default delete use-rel-suffix
> src-all
> #ports-all
> -----------------------
> Is the updating to 4.9-PRERELEASE a normal behaviour intended by the 
> Team, or is it a bug in cvsup client make it interpret commented line 
> "#*default release=cvs tag=." (though I don't think that would have 
> 4.9-PRERELEASE as a result from 4.8-STABLE).

This is entirely normal.  You're tracking RELENG_4 a.k.a 4-STABLE.
That started out with 'uname -r' saying 4.0-STABLE and over time, it
has periodically mutated and continues to mutate into the each
successive system version number -- in fact, that happens
approximately every 4 months.  Go look at the archives: you'll see
posts saying much the same as you have at 4 month intervals right back
to the inception of the 4-STABLE branch.

The fact that from time to time the RELENG_4 sources may get labelled
4.9-PRERELEASE or some such is neither here nor there.  It's all
4-STABLE.  The name has little bearing on the actual stability of the
system -- in fact, if the release process is working properly, the
-PRERELEASE and -RCn and indeed the -RELEASE[*] versions should be, if
anything, slightly *more* stable than the run of the mill -STABLE
code.  Of course, the course of software releases never does run quite
that smoothly, but such is life.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

[*] Which is identical to -STABLE for some vanishingly small amount of
time right when the release gets cut.

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       26 The Paddocks
                                                      Savill Way
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Marlow
Tel: +44 1628 476614                                  Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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