How long does it take for a port to become a pkg?

[Matthew Seaman]

On 2017/03/14 16:29, Christian Baer wrote:
> Are there any major drawbacks from using the "latest" versions of
> packages, like stuff getting out of sync?

It depends on your use case.  For a personal machine where you are the
only user and you don't mind /too/ much if eg. firefox doesn't work for
a few hours, then using the latest packages shouldn't be a problem.
OTOH, if this is a corporate server that generates a lot of revenue and
where changes need to be tightly controlled, the quarterly package sets
would be preferable.

Yes, the latest packages are a little more risky to use than the
quarterly ones -- not a huge amount, and any problems are usually
attended to very promptly.  ie. wait a day, and it should be fixed.
Also, remember that you don't have to update *every* time an update is
available.  Having said that, you can go for literally years at a time
without experiencing any trouble.

> Would this information perhaps be a noteworthy addition to the handbook?
> In that case I'd write up something for it. The point is that all
> through the handbook, using the pkg tools and the ports is described
> side by side. While it is not explicitly said that the results are
> identical, the reader is very likely to expect it - pretty much as I
> did. So installing a piece of software via the pkg tool and another via
> the ports can lead to weird results, because possibly different
> lib-versions are expected.
> 
> What do you think?

I'm pretty sure there is discussion about the 'latest' and the
'quarterly' package sets somewhere in the documentation.  (Maybe on the
Wiki or in a forums posting.)  However, I'm sure a patch to the Handbook
section on packages and ports making clear the difference you've
highlighted would be well received.  Please do raise a PR or create a
Phabricator review.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

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