system updates question

[Matthew Seaman]

On 03/02/2015 04:15, Cody Chamberlain wrote:
> im a relatively new convert from debian linux and am starting to love
> freebsd more and more. the one thing i am in need of some advice is:
> what is the difference / best usage of freebsd-update and pkg to stay
> up to date?
> 
> from my debian world i am coming from, after running apt-get update i
> had categories of updates grouped by “security” and “upgrades” -
> there was also a distribution upgrade that was available….

freebsd-update applies to the base system, and unless you tell it
otherwise, will only download and install security or serious errata
patches.  There hasn't been an errata notice for a while, but security
advisories tend to come out every several weeks.

> is running pkg update and pkg upgrade equivalent to debian’s apt-get
> update / install?

It's similar in many ways.  pkg(8) at the moment is used solely for
maintaining 3rd party packages all of which are built from the ports
tree.  These are continually being updated and there will generally be
updates available to apply from each new weekly package build run.

If all you want are *security* patches to third part software, then it
is possible to configure pkg(8) to use one of the quarterly security
branches.  As the name suggests, these are created from a snapshot of
the ports made quarterly, and only receive security related updates.
However, you will still end up with a big upgrade every three months
when the next security branch comes in.

> what does freebsd-update update? is there a delineation between just
> security updates and upgrades?

freebsd-update can be used to upgrade your system to a new release
version but it uses a different set of command-line options, and the
procedure tends to be rather longer and more involved.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey


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