Installing FreeBSD on HP Computer that is using software RAID 5

[Polytropon]

On Fri, 4 Jan 2019 17:43:57 +0000, Carmel NY wrote:
> I inadvertently used the term "STABLE" when I meant "RELEASE". Sorry
> about that.

You can understand the FreeBSD-specific terminology when you
think about a "distillery process":

HEAD / CURRENT
	This is where actual development takes place. Things
	are introduced, tested, changed very often, and sometimes
	even removed. You usually track this branch via svn.
	It is primarily intended for developers who need the
	absolutely most recent version of the code. This can
	be slightly (!) compred with "rolling release", but
	as this is a development branch, there is no guarantee
	the software will run correctly - or even compile.

STABLE
	All the changes considered "good" and "stable" are
	located here. The ABI is _stable_ across the many
	STABLE versions, which means that no further need
	for reinstalling / recompiling ports is given. Again,
	svn is the common tool to access this branch. This
	version is intended for users who want "bleeding edge
	software" that they can rely on. STABLE versions are
	happening less often.

BETA
ALPHA
RCx (release candidate)
RELEASE
	This finally will be what ends up in the images to be
	written to optical media and USB sticks. It is the
	final result of release engineering and is "the complete
	operating system, in a fixed state". You typically get
	this from the FTP server or a mirror. A RELEASE only
	happens once.

RELEASE-pX
	The security patches are to be applied with the
	freebsd-update program to add important fixes to the
	installed RELEASE version. Those patches are issued
	as needed.

This is quite simplified, but I think it's still a good
analogy about how FreeBSD development happens and what a
common interpretation of the terms is. As you can see,
STABLE is a somewhat "moving" thing... ;-)



> Interestingly enough, I have had users who are not using
> some form of *nix tell me that the terms seem counter intuitive.
> Stable would seem to indicate a final version where release would seem
> to be something that was not yet quantified as stable.

Fully correct - depending on who you ask, there can be enormous
differences in the exegesis of termini technici, and the termini
themselves can significantly change upon domain.



> By the way, and nothing personal, but your claim that "installer images
> simply takes too long" in invalid. It reminds me of the old adage,
> "There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough
> time to do it over." If you cannot do it right, hire people who can.

In my opinion, providing RELEASE-pX images (patched versions)
could be a nice addition to the offerings FreeBSD already has.
I think you will agree that STABLE "snapshots" probably aren't
that interesting, while BETA, ALPHA, and RCs might be useful
for testers.

Given an Internet connection is activated upon system installation
time, a non-intrusive dialog could be presented like this:

	You are about to install FreeBSD 12.0.
	Currently there are patched versions
	available which you can install. Please
	select the version you want:

	[ ] FreeBSD 12.0    of 2018-12-12
	[ ] FreeBSD 12.0 p1 of 2019-01-23
	[ ] FreeBSD 12,0 p2 of 2019-02-34

Sorry for the nonsense dates. :-)

This is especially handy for installation via "bootonly" media
where no actual data to be installed is present.





-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...