Should I wait for 8.2-RELEASE or install a 8.1-RELEASE?

M

Martillo1

I am new to FreeBSD and I have an 8.1-RELEASE iso and the will to install FreeBSD on my machine. However I have already gone through a failed instalation (due to my lack of knowledge in dimensioning adequated sizes for this system), and after a long compilation process of the ports I wanted, I had to give up and remove the slice from my disk :(

I seek advice on if it is worth to wait for 8.2-RELEASE or to install 8.1-RELEASE and upgrade to the new release when it comes out. Nevertheless, I do not wish to go through the hassle of recompiling everything in few days.

To wait or not to wait, that is the question (oh, I can't wait ;) )
 
There's nothing magical about -RELEASE. It's just a snapshot, with a higher than average level of QA applied. But the QA level on FreeBSD is already very high. Many of us routinely run -STABLE without problems.

So you could just install 8.2-RC2 and call it good. You'd be able to switch to 8.2-RELEASE or 8-STABLE at any time, without having to rebuid ports or packages.
 
If you want to have the latest then you should install 8.2-RC2. It is almost as close as 8.2-Release. However, if you really want to learn FreeBSD then you will be better off not worrying about having to compile the system again. The more times you install it and the more times you compile it the better for you. Just read the handbook, experiment and expect to screw your system a dozen of times. There is nothing wrong with it.
 
@Martillo1


Currently we have 8.2-RC2, so in das there would be a 8.2-RELEASE, so best You should install 8.2-RC2 and then upgrade to 8.2-RELEASE as it gets ... well, released ;)
 
I wouldn't wait and just go for 8.1-RELEASE unless you have a special reason to go for 8.2-RELEASE. The Estimated EoL for 8.1 is July 31, 2012 while for 8.2 it is release+1 year, so you have some more time to learn and figure some things out ;)
After that you can upgrade directly from 8.1 to 8.3 using freebsd-update tool.
 
Unexpected behaviour

Well, I Installed 8.2-RC and to my surprise [cmd=]pkg_add -r links[/cmd] did not work, and I really did not want to install it from ports due to the extreme long compilation time for a text-based browser (it was compilating perl, X11, etc...) just to read the Handbook. So I investigated and found that [cmd=]pkg_add -r <whatever_package>[/cmd] searchs for a ftp directory that does not exist: .../8.2-release/...

Now what? Compiling everything even the simplest things? I would not mind with simple packages like portmaster, but, for example, portupgrade and Links are hidden beasts stalking for the unaware of its deep dependencies. I know that if I want to install Xorg from ports I have to undergo that suffering, but I did not expected the same for Links.

Back to 8.1-release? I do not know what to do :r
 
pkg_add(1) mentions setting the PACKAGESITE variable. Somehow pkg_add determines the release, then constructs the download URL. For 8.2-RC2, just set it correctly on your own (tested):
# setenv PACKAGESITE [url]ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-8-stable/Latest/[/url]
# pkg_add -r links

You can add that variable setting to your /root/.cshrc if necessary.
 
Thanks! In the meanwhile I figured it out browsing the ftp's structure and reading another post that enlightened. However I am pointing it to ...8.2-RC2/...

And I am posting from Links :)
 
Back to 8.1

Well, after installing Links I realized that a better choice would have been eLinks or Lynx, due to their lesser dependencies, but it is experience, as gkontos said, and experience it is always welcome. Thereafter I installed Xorg from packages and IceWm, Opera, Xfce4, etc. In the middle of this progression I decided to switch from packages to ports, and I learned to love the ports over packages, with a little help from portmanager, which detected a discrepancy in the version of... Links, and corrected it. Anyway, I use portupgrade, portmanager and postmaster, and make (install (clean)) in any combination.

Those were the good news, now let us go to the "other" news: In the end I had to mv 8.2-RC2 > /dev/null (just let me say it that way ;) ) because I noticed something that made me worry about the hard drive. Yes, the noise. I do not know why, buy I cleary rememberd the noise (more precisely the lack of) of the HD under 8.1 compared to the one running 8.2-RC2, and I did not like it. 8.1 was smooth as silk on my drive, but 8.2-RC2 was worse than Vista. So, knowing it is a RC, I did not want to risk any HD failure and wiped it out.

What then? Yes, you already know: 8.1 from ports. However I wonder if someone has had the same problem than me, or it was just a case of bad luck (or it is just that I am excesively prudent).

Ah, I am posting from Opera inside twm. Maybe I will use pekwm or fluxbox, but I am tired of big DEs. And yes, I am learning a lot :)
 
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