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Seeker
*nix forums beginner
Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 21
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 Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:47 am Post subject:
Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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Please tell me if my understanding is correct:
-Ports are basically information files which define how to install an
application which is not part of the core OS. They have information
such as where to put files, compile-time options, etc.
-Packages are third-party binaries not part of the base OS, which come
from ports.
-Are ports and packages always extras which aren't included in the base
OS? I would think not, since during install one might not choose to
install X, for example.
-When using CVSup to grab ports and source, and subsequently running the
out-of-date script, it tells you if any packages you have installed need
updating, but not anything about the core OS.
-To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the
errata for security updates and individually patches when necessary? |
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jKILLSPAM.schipper@math.u
*nix forums Guru Wannabe
Joined: 13 Nov 2005
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:43 am Post subject:
Re: Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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Seeker <newsgroups@minusthespam.michaelstarks.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Please tell me if my understanding is correct:
-Ports are basically information files which define how to install an
application which is not part of the core OS. They have information
such as where to put files, compile-time options, etc.
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And patches, but yes, this is essentially correct.
| Quote: | -Packages are third-party binaries not part of the base OS, which come
from ports.
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Well, actually, they are built by the OpenBSD project. So they are
binaries of third-party software that is not part of the base OS.
| Quote: | -Are ports and packages always extras which aren't included in the base
OS? I would think not, since during install one might not choose to
install X, for example.
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The OpenBSD system includes some third-party software; one example if
the X server, another is GCC. These are part of the base system, and
distributed as *39.tgz. (Replace 39 with the appropriate version number,
obviously.)
These are not available as ports or packages. However, one need not
install all of the base system to get a working system. Installing base
and etc is probably the most practical, but comp, man, misc, and x* can
be left out if desired.
Do note, though, that the package system is smart enough to know which
ports cannot be installed unless one has xbase installed, but does not
currently prompt you to install xbase (but instead errors out with
something along the lines of 'libfreetype not found').
| Quote: | -When using CVSup to grab ports and source, and subsequently running the
out-of-date script, it tells you if any packages you have installed need
updating, but not anything about the core OS.
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Yes.
| Quote: | -To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the
errata for security updates and individually patches when necessary?
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There are four branches to consider:
-release is exactly the release, with all the bugs in
there
-release+errata contains any security fixes for the base system
(but not for ports)
-stable contains all security fixes plus important
stability fixes
-current contains all fixes that have been made since the
release; of course, it also contains all bugs introduced since the
release...
It's usually recommended to follow -stable; it does not have a
significantly higher risk of breakage than the patches, and does contain
a lot of additional fixes, including security fixes for ports (the
patches only cover the base system). Though it's worth noting that it's
almost certainly possible to mix a -release system with -stable ports.
As to when it's time to recompile, you should at the very least
recompile when a new patch comes out; other than that, recompile when an
important fix is imported (if you happen to have been told such on misc@
or elsewhere), or when you feel like it.
Joachim |
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Steve at fivetrees
*nix forums addict
Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:53 am Post subject:
Re: Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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"Seeker" <newsgroups@minusthespam.michaelstarks.com> wrote in message
news:MeZrg.48504$W97.27380@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
| Quote: |
-To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the errata
for security updates and individually patches when necessary?
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FWIW, I do a cvs update of the source tree - unless I'm missing something,
this has the same effect as applying the patches manually. I then rebuild
the kernel and userland, and reboot.
I then do the same thing for the ports tree, but keeping track of changes
that affect me used to be a little harder - made somewhat easier by the new
"out-of-date" system.
Steve
http://www.fivetrees.com |
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jKILLSPAM.schipper@math.u
*nix forums Guru Wannabe
Joined: 13 Nov 2005
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:47 am Post subject:
Re: Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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Steve at fivetrees <steve@nospamtafivetrees.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "Seeker" <newsgroups@minusthespam.michaelstarks.com> wrote in message
news:MeZrg.48504$W97.27380@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
-To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the errata
for security updates and individually patches when necessary?
FWIW, I do a cvs update of the source tree - unless I'm missing something,
this has the same effect as applying the patches manually. I then rebuild
the kernel and userland, and reboot.
I then do the same thing for the ports tree, but keeping track of changes
that affect me used to be a little harder - made somewhat easier by the new
"out-of-date" system.
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pkg_add -ui is quite useful, too.
Note that what you do with cvs is an upgrade to -stable, which contains
all the patches plus some stability etc fixes.
Joachim |
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Steve at fivetrees
*nix forums addict
Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject:
Re: Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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<jKILLSPAM.schipper@math.uu.nl> wrote in message
news:44b0deb4$0$60514$dbd4d001@news.wanadoo.nl...
| Quote: | Steve at fivetrees <steve@nospamtafivetrees.com> wrote:
"Seeker" <newsgroups@minusthespam.michaelstarks.com> wrote in message
news:MeZrg.48504$W97.27380@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
-To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the
errata
for security updates and individually patches when necessary?
FWIW, I do a cvs update of the source tree - unless I'm missing
something,
this has the same effect as applying the patches manually. I then rebuild
the kernel and userland, and reboot.
I then do the same thing for the ports tree, but keeping track of changes
that affect me used to be a little harder - made somewhat easier by the
new
"out-of-date" system.
pkg_add -ui is quite useful, too.
|
Didn't work on my (3. home system, so I looked it up on 3.9. Ooo! This
looks funky, and alone a good reason to upgrade.
I'd read about the system on the misc mailing list; hadn't realised it was
quite *this* good. Thanks for the heads-up.
| Quote: | Note that what you do with cvs is an upgrade to -stable, which contains
all the patches plus some stability etc fixes.
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Yep, understood. Seems a whole lot easier/saner than patching to me. YMMV.
(I guess I'm quite happy to leave the system rebuilding everything, and
maybe not everyone is. I remember when this used to take days  .)
Steve
http://www.fivetrees.com |
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Marc Espie
*nix forums beginner
Joined: 10 Apr 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:11 pm Post subject:
Re: Understanding Ports, Packages and System Updates
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In article <MeZrg.48504$W97.27380@twister.nyroc.rr.com>,
Seeker <newsgroups@minusthespam.michaelstarks.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Please tell me if my understanding is correct:
-Ports are basically information files which define how to install an
application which is not part of the core OS. They have information
such as where to put files, compile-time options, etc.
-Packages are third-party binaries not part of the base OS, which come
from ports.
-Are ports and packages always extras which aren't included in the base
OS? I would think not, since during install one might not choose to
install X, for example.
|
X is not a port, nor a package. It's not the base distribution either.
It has some very specific status.
Note that ports that use X do install under /usr/local as other ports
do. We tweaked imake to behave in that way a few years ago.
| Quote: | -When using CVSup to grab ports and source, and subsequently running the
out-of-date script, it tells you if any packages you have installed need
updating, but not anything about the core OS.
-To update the core OS, you need to track a branch such as stable, and
recompile userland and kernel to bring it up to date. But how does one
determine what has changed since the last update? More to the point, is
there any point in doing this on a stable system if one follows the
errata for security updates and individually patches when necessary?
|
You track the time of changes, and do a cvs diff to figure out the
exact changes. There have not been that many changes since 3.9, for
instance.
From time to time, there are patches to stable which are not important
enough to warrant a separate security advisory. |
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