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FreeBSD 5.2 Scheduled For Release By Christmas

Posted by timothy on from the how-many-shopping-days-left dept.

ocipio writes "FreeBSD 5.2 is scheduled to be released by Christmas. Recently marked 5.2-BETA, the ports tree is in a freeze and developers are asking for testing. A TODO list is available for those interested."

86 comments

  1. 5.2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Is this going to be the stable release for the 5.x series? I really do hope so, it also seems kinda conveinient that its set for a similar release date as linux 2.6.0, looking forward to installing this anyway, cvsup isnt really an option down a 56k line!

    1. Re:5.2 by SuDZ · · Score: 0

      I wonder though if they would add the new kernel already into a stable release.

      SuDZ

    2. Re:5.2 by MavEtJu · · Score: 4, Informative

      Is this going to be the stable release for the 5.x series?

      No. Think you have to wait till 5.3 for that.

      --
      bash$ :(){ :|:&};:
    3. Re:5.2 by mec · · Score: 4, Informative

      Right, here's a link.

    4. Re:5.2 by fruity_pebbles · · Score: 3, Informative
      cvsup isnt really an option down a 56k line!

      cvsup works great on 56k.

    5. Re:5.2 by wembley · · Score: 1

      I thought stable releases were supposed to be even-numbered?

      --

      Share and Enjoy!

    6. Re:5.2 by welsh+git · · Score: 1

      Move along, move along, this ain't Linux

      --
      Sig out of date
  2. Update: 5.2-BETA released by cperciva · · Score: 4, Informative

    A couple hours ago, 5.2-BETA was officially released.

    Note that this is different from the name being inserted into the CVS tree -- 5.2-BETA is now available for installation via all the usual mechanisms (ISO image, FTP install, etc), without requiring a preexisting system.

    --
    Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
  3. I wonder . . . by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

    Now that it's 5.2, is it safe to move mission critical systems from 4.x ?

    --
    Pretty Pictures!
    1. Re:I wonder . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Nope.

      The Roadmap at FreeBSD.org says that RELENG_5 will arrive with 5.3. I've pasted the gist of it below.

      "The original schedule of releasing FreeBSD 5.2 and branching RELENG_5 in September 2003 is being pushed back due to the complexity of the remaining tasks. The new schedule follows:

      * Nov 5, 2003: 5.2-BETA, general code freeze
      * Nov 19, 2003: 5.2-RC1, RELENG_5_2 branched
      * Nov 27, 2003: 5.2-RC2
      * Dec 2, 2003: 5.2-RELEASE
      * Mar 1, 2004: 5.3-BETA, general code freeze
      * Mar 15, 2004: 5.3-RC1, RELENG_5 and RELENG_5_3 branched
      * Mar 22, 2004: 5.3-RC2
      * Mar 29, 2004: 5.3-RELEASE"

      Read it in full at http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/article s/5-roadmap/

    2. Re:I wonder . . . by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the info.
      I guess I could have found that on my own. ]:3}>

      --
      Pretty Pictures!
    3. Re:I wonder . . . by Spasemunki · · Score: 4, Informative

      Obviously this is still the Beta, but the plan is to eventually make 5.2 the start of the production/stable branch. I imagine that the final decision won't be made until after 5.2 has been moved out of Beta and officially released for a while. . . while the testing and Beta period catches a lot of things, there are always bugs that only crop up under the heavier/more diverse use that a final, official release brings. I would wait until 5.2 has been in full release for a couple months, and watch the incoming bug reports to see if there is something that specifically affects you, and after that I'd deem it ready to move things to.

    4. Re:I wonder . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wrong. see above.

  4. PowerPC by bsharitt · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know why the PowerPC port is moving so slow?

    1. Re:PowerPC by sirket · · Score: 4, Informative

      Does anyone know why the PowerPC port is moving so slow?

      Because it is a new port for FreeBSD. Because it isn't x86. Because you aren't contributing code to the port :)

      It really is a recent port. Give it a little time and the pace of the project should pick up.

      -sirket

    2. Re:PowerPC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Because much people (ehem, many programmers and developers) has i486, i586, AMD K5, i686, AMD K6, P IV, K7, ..

      And little people (ehem, few programmers and developers) has variants of PowerPC when www.pegasosppc.comwas emerged.

      So, porting PowerPC will be very slow :(

      open4free

    3. Re:PowerPC by saintlupus · · Score: 3, Informative

      It really is a recent port. Give it a little time and the pace of the project should pick up.

      I asked Jordan Hubbard about this in a feedback session at WWDC earlier this year. He said that if the project isn't dead yet, it's certainly coughing up blood and clutching its chest.

      Not too promising. The trolls might finally have a dead BSD to point at.

      --saint

    4. Re:PowerPC by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      I recall in an interview with the FreeBSD core team them saying that if you want to run a *BSD on a desktop box, you should run MacOS X, rather than anything else. FreeBSD was targetting the server and workstation markets. Given the obvous respect the core team has for OS X, I wouldn't be surprised if the main reason for the lack of progress is that they don't see a point in the port.

      Perhaps if non-Apple (and hence non OS X) PPC hardware were more common then interest may be greater. FreeBSD on an IBM PPC 970 based blade would make a really nice server platform, and may become a focus in the future.

      Of course, I'm just guessing here...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  5. Wow. by dtfinch · · Score: 2, Funny

    With any luck, this will be the best Christmas EVER!!!

  6. It's not so recent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Goes back a while actually. The real reason that the PowerPC port is lagging is that it has one developer.

  7. Lagging PowerPC port problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Goes back a while actually. The real reason that the PowerPC port is lagging is that it has one developer."

    That problem takes care of itself. Once the developer has a complete version, it means that 1/3 of all the PowerPC users will already have the *BSD port. It will be a simple matter for him to give it to the other two.

  8. Merge from Apple by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the TODO:


    Merge of Darwin msdosfs, other fixes
    Not done
    Apple's Darwin operating system has fairly extensive improvements to msdosfs and other kernel services; these fixes must be reviewed and merged to the FreeBSD tree.

    Since one reason the GPL people attack the BSD license so much is that it doesn't require give backs, it's good to see some people do the right thing.

    1. Re:Merge from Apple by Brandybuck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sometimes when you don't treat people like potential criminals, you'll find that they "do the right thing" without being asked.

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    2. Re:Merge from Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well one SA, one patch, and one port of msdosfs isnt bad at all, as we know apple doesnt make any money with the MacoSX sales..... =)

      but its ok, last thing we want to see is freebsd ads around the corner, i would prefer to see apple move with litigation support to bsd developers if sco moves forward with that III reich offensive

      i know they pay some checks to contribs, but lets keep it that way or move the line a little closer but with caution. Theres no need to jeopardize this great OS, that is freebsd, by marketing procedures, or financial growth

    3. Re:Merge from Apple by Groganz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not to mention any improvements that FreeBSD developers make on top of that can be feed back into Darwin, and so it goes on. And noone has stolen any code :P

  9. Production Release? by mezron · · Score: 1

    I don't see anything stating whether this will be another new technology release or production release. Anyone here know what it'll be?

    1. Re:Production Release? by mezron · · Score: 4, Informative

      doh! upon actually RTFA again, it appears to be another new technology release.

    2. Re:Production Release? by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      I just want a stable ports tree.

      Guess I will have to keep the 4.9 cd's handy untill then

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
  10. Re:Nice for the family by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I reckon. It's nice to have the body of your OS this Christmas to celerbrate the release of FreeBSD 5.2. We thank you on behalf of the better part of the open source community.

  11. this is not -STABLE yet. by anarcat · · Score: 5, Informative

    For folks wondering if this is a production release or whatnot, you might like to read the 5-STABLE roadmap, more specifically, the 5-STABLE schedule.

    --
    Semantics is the gravity of abstraction
  12. Merry Christmas by thanjee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now I know what to buy everyone for Christmas!

    --
    Saying your OS is the best because more people use it is like saying MacDonalds make the best food
    1. Re:Merry Christmas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now I know what to buy everyone for Christmas!

      what? a bsdstation2 ? :>

  13. Re:5.2 et cvsup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cvsup is perfectly fine over dialup .... beats the heck out of downloading an ISO every release

  14. Re:Notable quotables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dead? Thats funny. I'm using it right now to reply to your post. Seems plenty alive to me. Honestly...some of you Linux zealots are just as bad as the windows people. They all say "if it's not Windows I'm not using it!" In come the Linux zealots, the open source mirror image of the thing they despise, to proclaim "If it's not Linux...it's dead." Bah. You remind me of a bunch of shorts on the NASDAQ floor.

  15. Re:Notable quotables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who said these are Linux zealots?

  16. Re:Notable quotables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who said these are Linux zealots?

    yeah its windows users that dont know that their tcp/ip stack is dead?

    of course its linux users, ask any windows guy who is yelling, whining, advocating and bitching all the time ?!

    LINUx users! :D

    depiste no windows users post on slashdot!
    (im so sure of that as bush is of WMD in iraq)

    *shrugs*

  17. Re:Notable quotables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who said these are Linux zealots?

    Who says it is a THEY?

    I don't see these posts on daily.daemonnews.org.

  18. FreeBSD is an excellent server OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... my friend's company runs 30 Internet servers on FreeBSD, very reliable with long uptime!

  19. Re:Notable quotables by tarius8105 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Honestly...some of you Linux zealots are just as bad as the windows people.

    I like to view Linux zealots as the little children playing soldier in a sandbox, "You're Dead!" "No I'm not dead, I'm superman!" "No! I am superman"...If you dont know what I'm referring to, Linux people are the only ones who refer that their OS is the best in the world and nothing can top it :)

  20. Too little, too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I don't think that there is enough widespread support for BSD to save the operating system. What must be done is an opening up of the development process OR a GPL-style restriction on redistribution. In many ways I favor the former.

    Even in a worst case scenario, I don't see BSD completely dying. I think the developers are less into competition and more into a sort of idealized cooperation. As a result, even if BSD becomes more marginalized, I don't think that it will die outright. It will most likely outlive Netware, for example.

  21. Re:Notable quotables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You remind me of a bunch of shorts on the NASDAQ floor.

    Uh, there is no "floor" on which short sellers could stand on, at Nasdaq. It is after all a fully electronic exchange. Remember electrons? Those things in wires? Tough to stand on!
    -- a regular short seller

    Oh yeah, FreeBSD rocks! You're soaking in it...

  22. I look forward to FreeBSD 5.2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FreeBSD has been the most stable OS we have ever used, it keeps getting better! Keep up the good work!

  23. FreeBSD 5.2 will make Linux freaks...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..... pull their hair out! Linux has a longs way to go to catch up to FreeBSD! No wonder Yahoo.com runs on FreeBSD!

    1. Re:FreeBSD 5.2 will make Linux freaks...... by MikeCapone · · Score: 1

      Care to give some examples to back up your claim?

      Oh, and Google runs on Linux. Checkmate.

      (I'm just kidding -- I'm not really into the holy war myself... Both Linux and *BSD are great)

      --
      Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
    2. Re:FreeBSD 5.2 will make Linux freaks...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah Google runs on RedHat. But Yahoo is still the biggest website in the world and it runs on FreeBSD. And so does ftp.cdrom.com which is biggest ftp website in the world too. No matter what everyone says, BSDs are stil the big boys. Check it out here: http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/today/top.avg.html
      I don't see any non BSD systems in there, not even linux. Do you?
      I think that speaks for itself.
      One word: BSD.

  24. FreeBSD is great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'nuff said!!!!