New section for older FreeBSD in forums.

[mfaridi]

If we have sections about older FreeBSD like FreeBSD 8 and FreeBSD 9, we can help FreeBSD users to solve their problem and can help them improve their knowledge and help them stay in FreeBSD world and do not move to another world like Linux.
I see many topics about the problems in FreeBSD 8 and 9 and many users try to solve this problem by saying the end of life and do not help them to solve their problem.
in this section, we will help them to find a way to solve their problems and let them learn new things about FreeBSD great OS in the world.
I think this is not a good answer your OS is the end of life and we can not help you.
Some new application does not support new FreeBSD, but they work like charm in older FreeBSD and still using.

 

[tommiie]

help them stay in FreeBSD world and do not move to another world like Linux.

So you believe those people do not want to install a newer version of FreeBSD to solve their problems, but they do want to install a Linux and migrate their environment in order to solve their problems?

 

[mfaridi]

I do not think so, some new application like Plesk and games do not support the new version of FreeBSD.

 

[zirias@]

I think this is not a good answer your OS is the end of life and we can not help you.

This is, and will always be, the only possible answer. End-of-life means no more patches, IOW gaping security holes. Running such a system is grossly negligent.

Upgrading FreeBSD on the other hand shouldn't give problems to anyone, and people here will be happy to guide if necessary.

 

[tommiie]

I do not think so, some new application like Plesk and games do not support the new version of FreeBSD.

Always use the right tool for the job. FreeBSD is just a tool, it is not sacred. If FreeBSD is not supported, I rather have those people migrate those Plesk servers away from FreeBSD and onto Linux than have them run an EOL version of FreeBSD.

 

[malavon]

I do not think so, some new application like Plesk and games do not support the new version of FreeBSD.

That's why FreeBSD has the compatxx packages. These exist for versions going back to FreeBSD 4 which is over 15 years old. Talking about compatibility I'd say
Of course that's not true for packages inside the ports tree that may have moved on to a newer version, but even that can be handled manually to install an old one and locking it into place.
And that comes with all the goodies of a new OS like support on the forum, ZFS, pkg and much, much more.

Also, how many binary-only games are there specifically for FreeBSD? I don't know about Plesk, but I do know about games and there are none as far as I know.

 

[SirDice]

Also, how many binary-only games are there specifically for FreeBSD?

I know of one game in particular. And the mere mentioning of it will get you banned real quick.

If we have sections about older FreeBSD like FreeBSD 8 and FreeBSD 9, we can help FreeBSD users to solve their problem and can help them improve their knowledge and help them stay in FreeBSD world and do not move to another world like Linux.

You are mistaken. How far do you think they'll get with an out-of-date and unsupported Linux distribution? They'll get the exact same responses, update. And people "threatening" to leave? I never understood that, it's such a hollow threat. If you want to leave for apparent greener pastures, stop moaning about it and go. You're not married to an OS, if you think you can do better with another OS then by all means, give it a go.

Note that we do help people with older versions to upgrade to a recent and supported version. But most of the time people still running these ancient versions do so for all the wrong reasons. People that have really good reasons to run an old version generally don't require user support.

 

[malavon]

I know of one game in particular. And the mere mentioning of it will get you banned real quick.

I am a very curious person. Now I won't be able to ever sleep again until I know what this is about
Also, I'm kidding a little. But I am genuinly interested in more info, I'd really appreciate it if you could PM me about this.

 

[SirDice]

I am a very curious person. Now I won't be able to ever sleep again until I know what this is about

It's even stickied, and yet we still get the occasional id-ten-t that seems to be completely oblivious to it.

Do not post METIN / METIN2 topics on these forums!

Copied the sticky to the General forum for slightly higher visibility. METIN-2 / METIN2 and other illegal software - don't ask for assistance on these forums. Threads will be closed, posters will be banned. Factfinding: The server files are indeed leaked, so we're basically talking about an...

forums.freebsd.org

 

[malavon]

I indeed never read that, didn't know what it was and thus didn't care. Thanks for letting me know, too bad there isn't a juicier story

 

[SirDice]

Thanks for letting me know, too bad there isn't a juicier story

We used to have a thread where we collected all of them, that made an interesting read. Good for a laugh, or two. But it looks like the thread got culled during a clean up some time ago.

 

[PMc]

The whole matter is merely theoretical. You don't get support for either new or old versions because you don't have any contract that would oblidge anybody to provide support. The whole thing is about finding some person who may know an answer, and that is always the same no matter of version.

The only difference of "supported" versions is that there may be security patches (or there may not be, because the people discovering the breach decided to keep that to themselves and not communicate it thru the official channels). I do not buy into the mass hysteria about these security patches. About 98% of them, when evaluated (and I do evaluate them) do not apply to my specific configurations or are just DoS vectors. There are a lot of other things that might make a system crash (and therefore leading to DoS) which are not cared for in a similar fashion.

 

[SirDice]

The problem is often not related to FreeBSD itself. But generally it's a third party application they have problems with. People who don't update their OS typically don't update their applications either. They've installed it once, then let it go stale for several years and are suddenly confronted with the rest of the world having moved on.

The only difference of "supported" versions is that there may be security patches (or there may not be, because the people discovering the breach decided to keep that to themselves and not communicate it thru the official channels).

Also note that updates to the ports system can break compatibility with older, EoL, versions. Just try to build something from a recent, up to date, ports tree on FreeBSD 8 for example.

 

[PMc]

The problem is often not related to FreeBSD itself. But generally it's a third party application they have problems with. People who don't update their OS typically don't update their applications either. They've installed it once, then let it go stale for several years and are suddenly confronted with the rest of the world having moved on.

In itself that is a valid approach. "Never change a running system", i.e. no maintenance might still be one of the most efficient maintenance schemes, and a week of downtime for a full rebuild every five years is also not too bad - I went for that in times when I had other interesting things to pursue. But then there are some rules, and the most important is: as soon as you want to change something, and be it just a feature of some application, the whole housekeeping suite becomes necessary. And sadly, people tend to forget that.

 

[mfaridi]

I know of one game in particular. And the mere mentioning of it will get you banned real quick.


You are mistaken. How far do you think they'll get with an out-of-date and unsupported Linux distribution? They'll get the exact same responses, update. And people "threatening" to leave? I never understood that, it's such a hollow threat. If you want to leave for apparent greener pastures, stop moaning about it and go. You're not married to an OS, if you think you can do better with another OS then by all means, give it a go.

Note that we do help people with older versions to upgrade to a recent and supported version. But most of the time people still running these ancient versions do so for all the wrong reasons. People that have really good reasons to run an old version generally don't require user support.

nice tips,
but some application has better performance by FreeBSD and not Linux, in these 15 years experiences in FreeBSD and Linux, I see some application has better performance than Linux.
for example, Plesk worked better in FreeBSD than Linux, but we have to move to another panel because they do not support FreeBSD.

 

[mfaridi]

That's why FreeBSD has the compatxx packages. These exist for versions going back to FreeBSD 4 which is over 15 years old. Talking about compatibility I'd say
Of course that's not true for packages inside the ports tree that may have moved on to a newer version, but even that can be handled manually to install an old one and locking it into place.
And that comes with all the goodies of a new OS like support on the forum, ZFS, pkg and much, much more.

Also, how many binary-only games are there specifically for FreeBSD? I don't know about Plesk, but I do know about games and there are none as far as I know.

but some application depends on the whole system.

 

[Sevendogsbsd]

It is less of an issue with a desktop but is a huge issue for a server providing a web application that is accessible to the Internet. Unless the application is protected by a WAF, IPS, etc, not updating a web server or framework is asking for trouble. I test web applications every single day and find vulnerabilities constantly because of various reasons, some of which are lack of updates.

If you take on the responsibility of hosting a web application, you must take on the responsibility of patching the systems supporting that application. To not do so is just placing your, or worse, your customer's data, at risk and is very irresponsible.

 

[zirias@]

If you take on the responsibility of hosting a web application, you must take on the responsibility of patching the systems supporting that application. To not do so is just placing your, or worse, your customer's data, at risk and is very irresponsible.

Maybe stating the obvious, but it seems to me that plesk is a first-class example of a service you don't want to run on an un-patched system ...

 

[mfaridi]

for example, does not support a new version of FreeBSD and we do not support users use old Plesk and old FreeBSD too. I start this post because some problems depend on the old FreeBSD version, they try to find a way to solve the problems and we say this version is the end of life.
we have a production systems on old FreeBSD and work like charm.

 

[SirDice]

Plesk worked better in FreeBSD than Linux, but we have to move to another panel because they do not support FreeBSD.

Does Plesk need to update their code and support recent versions of FreeBSD or does FreeBSD have to keep supporting old versions because Plesk can't or won't update their code?

but we have to move to another panel because they do not support FreeBSD.

And that's the only way you can show Plesk you don't agree with their policy, move to an application or company that does provide adequate support.

 

[PMc]

It is less of an issue with a desktop but is a huge issue for a server providing a web application that is accessible to the Internet.

On a desktop it depends on what you do with it. If you go banking or e-shopping or onto dubious sites, I would highly recommend to have recent fixes (due to the Spectre issues - unless you can evaluate the actual risk).
On an internet-facing server it is obvious - as soon as there is a fixed ip or fixed domain, hell breaks loose almost immediately.

But then there are those machines that do a certain workload and are way behind some DMZ and should not be touchable by any hostile force, and there it shouldn't matter.

 

[Sevendogsbsd]

PMc - agree, but you still have to worry about machines in an enclave (behind DMZ) because of things like sql injection. I can reach out and touch a database through a web application using sql injection. That is more a case of how the web app itself is designed, but regardless, patching is important.

 

[abishai]

I know of one game in particular. And the mere mentioning of it will get you banned real quick.

It was patched to support modern FreeBSD ;-)

As for OP, I saw FreeBSD 6 on real hardware in production (internal mail server). No one wants to touch it and it works with 10+ years uptime. I'm in serious doubt it can be easily updated now.

 

[SirDice]

But then there are those machines that do a certain workload and are way behind some DMZ and should not be touchable by any hostile force, and there it shouldn't matter.

Lots of high profile hacks have been done by insiders, so I'm not so sure about that in this day and age. We keep the bad guys at bay using all sorts of security measures making it very difficult for them to get it. But never, ever, forget you're giving the keys to the kingdom to your employees. They don't need to "break in", they're already there. They don't need to probe or analyze how the network is set up, you've already given them plenty of information about your most vulnerable systems.

 

[mfaridi]

Does Plesk need to update their code and support recent versions of FreeBSD or does FreeBSD have to keep supporting old versions because Plesk can't or won't update their code?


And that's the only way you can show Plesk you don't agree with their policy, move to an application or company that does provide adequate support.

Plesk does not support a new version of FreeBSD, but if we have some problem and try to solve the problem, in forums we say this version is the end of life and do not try to solve the problem.
I start this post to help users with the old version of FreeBSD to solve their problems.
I do not want some application like Plesk to make support for the new version of FreeBSD, but we have users still use old FreeBSD and try to help them to solve their problem.