When is BuildWorld necessary?

[pobox at verysmall.org]

Bob wrote:
> Hi:
> 
> I recently installed FreeBSD  6.1 over the net from sources. I am keeping 
> things up-to-date using CVSup. 
> 
> When portaudit tells me I have a security issue; I update/re-install the 
> affected port. When a kernel patch comes in, I re-compile the kernel; which 
> now stands at FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE-p6 #3.
> 
> From what I can tell, buildworld re-builds the base system, something I have 
> yet to do. My thought is to do a buildworld only  when the OS version is 
> updated to the next number above 6.1.  I understand this happens at about 4 
> month intervals.
> 
> My question is, is there a good reason to buildworld before a version change? 
> I hate "fixing"  something which is working perfectly, and this system has 
> been stellar!
>  
> Bob

Hi Bob,

I believe it is basically good to get the 'p' patches as they contain 
security fixes. My thinking is that if 'p' patch comes out - your system 
is, in some sense, not perfect anymore :)

But I have one question - do you rebuild the world on a remote machine 
(without physical access) and if yes - how do you restart in single user 
mode. This is what I can't understand so far.

Thanks,
Iv

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