Keeping Updated

[Tuomo Latto]

Paul Stewart wrote:
> This raises my first question - getting updating source. Where do I obtain
> it from and how do I know when it's updated? I presume only during major
> updates/upgrades and/or security issues is when the source tree ever
> changes?

Umm... No. Or depends on what you mean.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/current-stable.html#STABLE


> I understand (or believe I do) on the whole "make buildworld", "make
> installworld", "mergemaster -v" steps unless anything has changed in
> 7.2-RELEASE that I need to know about.  I also remember how to build my own
> kernels and see that you can now do "make buildkernel KERNCONF=NEWKERNEL"
> and "make installkernel KERNCONF=NEWKERNEL" which is nice too.

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/makeworld.html#CANONICAL-BUILD


> I guess I'm kinda wondering the "condensed quick version" of what people are
> typically doing to keep their system updated from source without making life
> difficult ;)  Yes, I've been reading through various things to get myself
> updated to newer info but there's also a lot of stuff on the Internet based
> on older info hence why I'm asking.

I don't know if remember this, but the Handbook is pretty much always
up-to-date and along with manual pages should be your first reference
for anything.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

To be more specific, you seemed to be interested in these topics
(but don't limit your reading to these):
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ports.html
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig.html
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/updating-upgrading.html


-- 
Tuomo

... Google "how to hook up a hose to a kitchen sink"
    Did you mean: "how to hook up a /horse/ to a kitchen sink"
    >> I hope there was a non-return valve in the hose connection somewhere;
    >> horse-sh!t in your water supply is baaaaad.
    > No, horse-shit in your water is just disgusting.
    > Sheep-shit in your water is baaaaaaaaad! :-)
    Sheep puns are baaaaaaaaad. ;)
                            -- on http://thedailywtf.com/Comments/
                                  Yes,_That_0x27_s_Exactly_What_I_Meant.aspx