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FreeBSD 4.9-RC4 (i386) Available For Pounding

Dan writes "FreeBSD Release Engineering Team's Murray Stokely has announced the availability of RC4 - the final Release Candidate for FreeBSD 4.9. He says that RC4 includes SATA, DRM and other bugfixes; he is requesting everyone for help with testing. He says that if all goes well, they will be able to release Monday."

39 comments

  1. Making choices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Currently run 5.1 on all my machines, but 4.x series was marvelous as well.
    With DragonflyBSD rolling its release sometime around 5-STABLE branch I think people will have a hard time making a choice of what to run.
    5-STABLE branch releases or DragonflyBSD, it will be interesting times ahead.
    I will probably run FreeBSD on most my servers and put DragonflyBSD on my laptop, as 4.x series worked better on crappy hardware; I needed more advanced features that 5.x offered that DragonflyBSD will too.

    1. Re:Making choices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
      Junior, BSD is dead. This implies FreeBSD is dead. What part of dead don't you understand?
      1. Grieve.
      2. Get over it.
      3. Move on.

      You're a big boy now. High time you started acting like one.

    2. Re:Making choices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I pee on your head

  2. What a coincidence! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    FreeBSD 4.9-RC4 (i386) Available For Pounding

    I issued a similar press release shortly after breaking up with my girlfriend!

    PS: FreeBSD rulez!

    1. Re:What a coincidence! by trompete · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, thanks for the heads-up! I even wrote a test plan and everything. >:)

    2. Re:What a coincidence! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Watch out though! System is very unstable and requires frequent reboots.

      And the firewall is useless, you close off ports to untrusted outsiders and after you check the logs, turns out they got in anyway.

      And there's some bug in the console code. You type a command and the system claims it ran, but it turns out it didn't.

      Basically 2.0 is a lot better, and that's what I'm running now. Larger mbufs too. :-)

    3. Re:What a coincidence! by __aahlyu4518 · · Score: 1

      At least timothy had an excuse (the devil made him do it). What's yours ? ;-)

  3. this is cool by jcgf · · Score: 1

    I only wish I had a machine that I could use for testing purposes. As it stands I am only able to install releases on this one.
    That said, I am even more excited for the upcoming stable version of 5.x

    1. Re:this is cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
      The way I see it, FreeBSD is in decline. Shhh. Don't tell anyone but it is D E A D

      Ponder that, big guy.

    2. Re:this is cool by cpghost · · Score: 1

      I'm using CURRENT since 5.1 on a regular basis, and I had very few problems with it. As far as I'm concerned, CURRENT is kind of semi-stable at the moment. Of course, every cvsup can break this, but this is not really new :) P.S.: 5.1 is really cool, esp. on an SMP motherboard.

      --
      cpghost at Cordula's Web.
  4. Color me thoroughly confused... by dbirchall · · Score: 1

    ... 'cos I just installed Panther on my Mac, and it was making noises about FreeBSD *5*.

    1. Re:Color me thoroughly confused... by __past__ · · Score: 2, Informative
      It's a little like the odd/even minor number branches of the Linux kernel being developed in parallel. FreeBSD 5 is the development branch. While more stable than many other OSes, it is not recommended for production use yet - there is a lot of new functionality that has to thoroughly tested, and some things still change. AFAIK, the current plans are to declare the 5.x series the "stable" one is with the release of 5.3, ealier plans had 5.2 in that role (the current release is 5.1).

      While FreeBSD 5.x is still maturing, the stable 4.x series continues to be actively developed (not only bugfixed). Hence the new 4.9 release. It's successor was released after 5.0 came out as well.

    2. Re:Color me thoroughly confused... by infinite1 · · Score: 1

      Panther(Darwin) has its own *kernel* derived from the Mach. It only uses the FreeBSD userland. They usually try to keep the userland in synch with FreeBSD periodically and this version is going to have some of the bits from freebsd 5. I am sure Panther is going to kick ass. I only wish I could justify buying a Mac for myself ....

  5. Pounding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Oh, you must mean pounding the nails into the coffin.

  6. Troll Fodder by glenstar · · Score: 3, Funny
    Could you possibly come up with a title more likely to feed the "*BSD is Dying/*BSD Sux0rs" trolls?

    Long live the *BSDs!

    1. Re:Troll Fodder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When it comes to the rabbidly jealous 'BSD is dying' trolls, they come pre-fed.

      Must be because FreeBSD is better than whatever it is they are using.

  7. BSD IS DEAD! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    GET IT THR0UGH Y0UR FUCK1NG HEADS, BSD 15 FUCK1NG DEAD! G0 and 1NSTALL MANDRAKE L1NUX YOU DEV1L W0RSH1PERS!

    1. Re:BSD IS DEAD! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      What the fuck are you doing here asshole? Go fuck your momma, pay SCO's license and install some Linux distro.

  8. Ass pounding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    *BSD Sux0rs

    In a startling turn of events today, a previously little-known fact came into the public eye: "*BSD Sux0rs". This came as a complete surprise to the BUWLA, or BSD Users With Large Assholes, as they previously thought that *BSD 0wned.

    "You see, even though I have never contributed code to any BSD project, I thought it was my duty to be a big asshole to others which don't use the OS I do, because it just 0wnz.", said one FreeBSD user. "Now that I know it sux0rs, though, I have to go find something else to be an asshole about."

    One notorious OpenBSD fanatic known as WideOpen, told reporters, "I have to kill myself. This isn't how it was supposed to happen. My BSD has always been the best, and shouting that opinion in other people's faces at every chance I got has been my only hobby. It was all I ever did. It was what got me out of bed in the morning. Now I have to die. I will jam my bedpost up my ass until I hit my brain. It is the only way to go: BSD style."

    In the volatile world of operating systems anything can happen. "At least we don't sux0r as much as Windows users", BigAzz, a relatively well-known NetBSD user said. "Screaming things in people's faces is my calling. Now I need to scream that BSD sux0rs. What a sad world. At least I won't kill myself like those uber-asshole OpenBSD guys. They are just way over the top. Or were, at least."

    Nobody knows for sure what the future holds for the state of operating systems, but with Netcraft confirming the sux0r status, *BSD users all over the world will have to stick something else up their asses from now on or risk looking even more gay than they used to.

  9. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Fact: *BSD is dying

    It is common knowledge that *BSD is dying. Everyone knows that ever hapless *BSD is mired in an irrecoverable and mortifying tangle of fatal trouble. It is perhaps anybody's guess as to which *BSD is the worst off of an admittedly suffering *BSD community. The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The erosion of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of BSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major marketing surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among hobbyist dilettante dabblers. In truth, for all practical purposes *BSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

  10. better than 4.8 by endx7 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can tell already 4.9 is gonna be better than 4.8 was. I had a machine running 4.8 that would panic and reboot under heavy load (problem was apparently in the driver for the ethernet card). Since I really had nothing to lose, I decided to go up to the release canidate of whatever version was available.

    This was friday morning, and the newest version of stable was RC3. I downloaded it, ...and it didn't work (and checksum mismatch, which might explain it just -slightly-).

    I looked back at the server, and RC4 had been put on the server while I was downloading RC3. Okay! Download, and before too much time passed, 4.9-RC4 was running.

    I pushed and pulled some large files off and on it (100 mbit, which in 4.8 it wasn't lasting longer than a few minutes on that card), and this time it stayed up (and it's still up).

    1. Re:better than 4.8 by sirket · · Score: 2, Interesting

      (problem was apparently in the driver for the ethernet card)

      What ethernet card was this? I have seen issues with RealTek and Via Rhine ethernet chipsets, mostly because they are awful chipsets. (Not trying to make excuses for FreeBSD. Though I have never seen problems with an ethernet card under FreeBSD except under -CURRENT).

      I did get some panics when running -CURRENT with a Via Rhine on a high throughput firewall, but when I returned to 4.8, everything was fine. Serves me right for running -CURRENT on a production box.

      -sirket

    2. Re:better than 4.8 by endx7 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What ethernet card was this? I have seen issues with RealTek and Via Rhine ethernet chipsets, mostly because they are awful chipsets. (Not trying to make excuses for FreeBSD. Though I have never seen problems with an ethernet card under FreeBSD except under -CURRENT).

      I don't remember what card exactly it was, but it used the xl driver. I had also tried an SMC? that used the dc driver, and it seemed bpf breaking then (but I'm not expert at debugging the kernel). But it appears to be fixed in 4.9, so I'm happy.

    3. Re:better than 4.8 by Digital+Dharma · · Score: 1

      Hrm, xl would likely make it a 3com of some sort. I've had the same issues with the panic/reboot under heavy load on 4.8 as well. None of the 4.9RCs have had this issues as of yet. Happy happy joy joy!

      --
      End of Line.
  11. available for a pounding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    oddly enough so was your mother last night. we found some holes, but plugged them up.

  12. Available for Pounding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Just like Michael Moore's asshole!

  13. Troll-in-one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    All the *BSD is dying posts are contained in this one post. If you have mod points, please mod this up so that everybody will know that *BSD is dying! No need to post your own, as it will only be redundant!

    Oh, and if I've missed any, please add your troll as a reply and I'll include it in the next Troll-in-one.

    _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

    The *BSD Wailing Song

    What's left for me to see
    In my ship I sailed so far
    What can the answer be
    Don't know what the questions are.
    And after all I've done
    Still I cannot feel the sun
    Tell me save me
    In the end our lost souls must repent.
    I must know it is for certain
    Can it be the final curtain
    As long as the wind will blow
    I'll be searching high and low.
    Who knows what's really true
    They say the end is so near
    Why are we all so cruel
    We just fill ourselves with fear.
    And heaven and hell will turn
    All that we love shall burn
    Hear me trust me
    In the end our lost sould must repent.
    I must know it is for certain
    Can it be the final curtain
    As long as the wind will blow
    I'll be searching high and low
    Final curtain
    Final curtain


    _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

    • flask of ripe urine
      pressed to bsd lips
      bsd drink up

    _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

    I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you BSD fanatics? I've been sitting here at my freelance gig in front of a BSD box (a PIII 800 w/512 Megs of RAM) for about 20 minutes now while it attempts to copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder. 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running NT 4, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this BSD box, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.

    In addition, during this file transfer, Netscape will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Emacs Lite is straining to keep up as I type this.

    I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various BSD machines, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a BSD box that has run faster than its Windows counterpart, despite the BSD machines faster chip architecture. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs faster than this 800 mhz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that BSD is a "superior" machine.

    BSD addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a BSD over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.


    _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

    It is common knowledge that *BSD is dying. Almost everyone knows that ever hapless *BSD is mired in an irrecoverable and mortifying tangle of fatal trouble. It is perhaps anybody's guess as to which *BSD is the worst off of an admittedly suffering *BSD community. The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The erosion of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of BSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell a

  14. AIDS and BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    This just in: homosexuality among *BSD users has skyrocketed. The cause is yet to be determined, however most sources indicate that it has something to do with *BSD users comforting each other in an strictly unusual way, to be quite a frank about it, gay sex.

    On Monday *BSD was giving a sad prognosis, it was dying. It probably won't have much longer to live. So when news broke out hell broke loose. Jimmy an avid *BSD user had this to say:

    "When I heard this news I was utterly devastated, so I went to my friend Darl, who is also a *BSD user. He didn't yet know of the unfortunate, and he didn't take it well. He broke down in tears, this is the second blow to him in a week, he found out that he contracted AIDS from a Black homosexual prostitute on the street one day. I said to Darl, 'well you know something *BSD is dying, and well . . . I'm going to die with it.'

    I pulled down my pants and bent over, Darl took care of the rest. I don't know if I have yet to get AIDS, but we have gay anal sex everyday, without any lubricant for maximum ripage. The *BSD mailing list I joined reports the same thing happening among the other *BSD users. We are all planning on having one massive gay orgy on Saturday, so if you want to go out and be with *BSD up in heaven, come join us."

    Well you've heard it folks from a true *BSD user. They have all turned gay because of these unfortunate happenings.
    1. Re:AIDS and BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Dude! This is already in the Troll-in-one. Why do you post duplicates?

    2. Re:AIDS and BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      You must think that doing 1 three-hundred pound woman is as good as doing 3 one-hundred pound women.

    3. Re:AIDS and BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      You must think that 3 cars that go a maximum of 30 miles an hour is as good as one car that can go a maximum of 90 miles per hour.

    4. Re:AIDS and BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
      You don't keed to be a Kreskin to look into FreeBSD's future. Even a child knows that FreeBSD is dying. All major marketing surveys show that FreeBSD has steadily declined in market share. FreeBSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim.

      Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

      The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The loss of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral. In truth, for all practical purposes FreeBSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking. It's a fact: FreeBSD is dying.

  15. Developer laments: What Killed FreeBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    The End of FreeBSD

    [ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]

    When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.

    Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.

    FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.

    It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.

    So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.

    Discussion

    I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.

    From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.

    There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

    Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

    Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?

    Shouts

    To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.

    To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. I

  16. FreeBSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    It is common knowledge that FreeBSD is dying, that ever hapless FreeBSD is mired in an irrecoverable and mortifying tangle of fatal trouble.

    All major marketing surveys show that FreeBSD has steadily declined in market share. FreeBSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The loss of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.

    In truth, for all practical purposes FreeBSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking.

    Fact: FreeBSD is dying

  17. Elegy for *BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Elegy For *BSD


    I am a *BSD user
    and I try hard to be brave
    That is a tall order
    *BSD's foot is in the grave.

    I tap at my toy keyboard
    and whistle a happy tune
    but keeping happy's so hard,
    *BSD died so soon.

    Each day I wake and softly sob
    Nightfall finds me crying
    Not only am I a zit faced slob
    but *BSD is dying.

  18. Works For Me by devphaeton · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've been running it since Saturday, and so far so good. I had to download and install the ports separately because they weren't on the mirror yet, but that's no biggie.

    Everything seems to go well, the usual fit-n-finish is superb, no complaints or warnings from any packages or utilities. Just what you'd expect from the FreeBSD team ;)

    Of course, i have `boring' hardware- nothing special:

    Athlon 1533Mhz
    512M Kingston
    30G WD IDE
    nvidia TNT1 (eek!)
    SbLive! (haven't built a kernel for support yet)
    Netgear FA312TX (natsemi chipset)
    IBM CDRW (haven't configged yet)

    But hey.... I just may make FreeBSD my primary desktop OS instead of Debian :-/

    --


    do() || do_not(); // try();
    1. Re:Works For Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Elegy For *BSD

      I am a *BSD user
      and I try hard to be brave
      That is a tall order
      *BSD's foot is in the grave!

      I tap at my toy keyboard
      and whistle a happy tune
      but keeping happy's so hard,
      *BSD died so soon.

      Each day I wake and softly sob
      Nightfall finds me crying
      Not only am I a zit faced slob
      but *BSD is dying.

  19. Lights out, pard. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Somewhere, in a lonely hospital room,
    FreeBSD is dying
  20. FreeBSD's dirty little secret by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    The End of FreeBSD

    [ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]

    When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.

    Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.

    FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.

    It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.

    So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.

    Discussion

    I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.

    From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.

    There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

    Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

    Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?

    Shouts

    To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.

    To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. I