4.10 FBSD vs 5.x FBSD

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Monday 08 November 2004 10:56 am, Laszlo Antal wrote:
> Hi,
> I am using 4.10 FBSD. Just started few months ago. My question is
> what are the major differenc
> beetwen the 4.10 and the 5.x release??
> I am reading this mailing list every day (better than any book I got)
> and I see that most of the questione is about 5.x release and just
> read today the 5.3 came out.
> Do I need to upgrade to 5.x ? Is 4.10 out of date?
>
> Thank you
>
> Laszlo

You do not need to upgrade to 5.*  FreeBSD 4.10 is not out-of-date.  In 
fact, at one time, the developers were planning a version 4.11; but I 
don't know the current status of that decision.

Reasons to stay with 4.10 may include:

1. Your system is running fine and providing all the features and 
services that you currently need.  ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it.")
2. You've heard reports that your old hardware doesn't work or is very 
difficult to configure in FreeBSD 5* (such as certain pcmcia ports).
3. You're upgrading your hardware soon and will perform clean 
installations of FreeBSD 5* at that time.


The reasons to upgrade to FreeBSD 5.3 may include:

1. You need features in 5.3 that do not exist in 4.10.
2. There are structural differences between FreeBSD 4* and 5*.  If you 
are very new to FreeBSD, you may wish to learn 5* from the start.
3. You know you will eventually upgrade to 5*; and now is as good a time 
as any.


I'm sure more experienced users will chime in with additional thoughts.

Best of luck,

Andrew Gould