rolling release?

[woody1987]

Im currently a ubuntu user but im becoming kinda frustrated with having to use outdated software all the time. What im looking for is a rolling release OS. Im currently looking at pclinuxOS as a good alternative. I have also heard alot of good things about PC-BSD and im curious as to what type of release it has, fixed or rolling?

[TerryP]

None, releases come when they are ready; updates come when devs do them.

You are however free to do things as you would on a FreeBSD system; ports are kept fairly up to date, and the FreeBSD has a well defined release, security, and update policy (PC-BSD doesn't).

Just note, when the source tree is frozen near new releases, ports will usually lag a bit in getting updated software; until after the release is made. Everything is also clearly documented on the FreeBSD website; the OpenBSD folk are like wise.


Unlike PC-BSD.

[Tanked]

None, releases come when they are ready; updates come when devs do them.

You are however free to do things as you would on a FreeBSD system; ports are kept fairly up to date, and the FreeBSD has a well defined release, security, and update policy (PC-BSD doesn't).

Just note, when the source tree is frozen near new releases, ports will usually lag a bit in getting updated software; until after the release is made. Everything is also clearly documented on the FreeBSD website; the OpenBSD folk are like wise.


Unlike PC-BSD.

Don't take this the wrong way but it is puzzling why you hang around here, since (looking at some of your other posts) you neither use PC-BSD nor have anything good to say about it. In fact, it appears you are pretty contemptuous of it.

[TerryP]

Don't worry, I'm a very hard person to offend... lol.


As far as using PC-BSD, I've used every release from 1.0RC1 to the 1.0 Release, and through 1.5.1 release; along with a number of test ISOs in between. While 7.0 was in ALPHA testing, I dropped PC-BSD from my laptop, and switched to FreeBSD. It wasn't worth my time or effort to continue with PC-BSD on my workstatiion.



I think, it would be fair to say I am contemptuous of PC-BSD these days, but they fired the first shots. I have just seen to much crap not to be annoyed...




As to why I still hang out here. I've seen the most knowledgeable folk leave the forums over the years (most used FreeBSD, not much of PC-BSD); and there have been none to replace them that actually know the FreeBSD side. I try to help people when I can, although PC-BSD 7.x.x. makes that much harder, since I don't use PC-BSD anymore.



Plus, if I leave, who will delete the spammers posts? It was us regulars trying to get the spam under control, that lead to me becoming the only active moderator :\.

[ebonix]

I think you are confusing what the word "Rolling Release" means.. If you want a true "Rolling Release" system you could try Arch Linux, www.archlinux.org.

[farvardin]

Thank you for your time and efforts TerryP!

About the rolling release, it's true I find Archlinux more flexible and easy to use and maintain than the *BSD I've tried.

The Aur system is pretty usefull, allowing everyone to contribute easily and with minimal efforts. There are more than source 10000 packages in the "unsupported" category. They may not be all well written and 100 % working, but it's still better than nothing.

The supported (binary) packages are most stables and up to date.

I wonder how a "minor" linux distribution such as archlinux can have such a dynamic way of working, while *BSD, which are probably more wide spread than this distribution, can look so archaic. Probably the BSD way make sure all package are well tested and it makes it more secure on a server, but on the desktop it's quite paintful, especially when you have to compile everything if you want to have basic packages up to date.
PCBSD can offer something here I think.

[dpeirce]

Suggestion for some rolling release linuces to try: Sidux, Foresight, and Mandriva Cooker.

I've tried all three in the recent past; They are kinda fun in one way, but require constant tinkering and daily upkeep or you quickly fall behind and have to reinstall. In fact, you'll have to reinstall pretty often anyway :^). It got to be more than I could justify to my wife who had other stuff she wanted me to do, so I'm using more stable releases now: Mint 5/6, Ultimate 2.0, Mepis 7, and PCBSD 7.0.1 (upgrading quickly to 7.0.2).

If you reeeeely reeeely know just what you're doing and like to always be fixing your OS, then a rolling release will be right up your alley. However, I reeeely mean 'always', 3-4 times a DAY - nearly every time you update and you'll update 3-4 times a day as new packages are added. Be warned!!

Sidux in particular has a good script-controlled updater but I forget its name; look for it in the docs. If you use Sidux, use that script, NOT adept or any other GUI pakage manager; use GUI managers only for downloading individual new programs. Sidux broke least often of the three, and Cooker the most.

In faith, Dave
Viva Texas

Founding Member of AAAAA - American Association Against Acronym Abuse.