freebsd 5.3-release and some observations

[Patrik Forsberg]

> i've finally finished updating the ISO trees and release trees
> for the FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE on ftp.au.freebsd.org and working
> on ftp2.au.freebsd.org - it has taken a while given the
> original release date.  how are other admins going with this ?

Well, we have enough speed to the closest ftp-master so we aculy had the
full chrunk mirrored the same day it was out.

> given the length of time for package tree updates i'd be
> asking if there is any thoughts that could be raised about
> how better to supply package trees so they aren't `tied'
> to an architecture and thus appear to be released in 3-5G
> chunks.

Updates seem to go throw all the time from looking at the cvsup log.. Im
not keeping any archived logs of the ftp-mirror so cant tell how that is
performing.

> i've also been asked if (as other distros are doing) FreeBSD
> will master a DVD iso image for downloads.
>
>
> i'm a little confused about the -current package trees in ports/$ARCH.
> 
> alpha has:
> 
> packages-5.2.1-release pointing at packages-5.2 and no
> packages-5-current but it does have packages-4-stable
> 
> amd64 has:
> 
> packages-5-current AND packages-6-current
> 
> i386 has
> 
> packages-4-stable, packages-5-current AND packages-6-current
> 
> ia64 has
> 
> packages-5-current
> 
> sparc64 has
> 
> packages-5-current

This can probably be explained by reading the .message file in the
ports/i386 dir of the mirror
"
These are packages for the i386 architecture.  Here are brief
descriptions of each subdirectory.

  packages-4-stable:      Packages for FreeBSD-4-stable.  Updated
weekly.
  packages-4.9-release:   Packages for FreeBSD 4.9-release.
  packages-4.10-release:  Packages for FreeBSD 4.10-release.
  packages-5.2.1-release: Packages for FreeBSD 5.2.1-release.
  packages-5.3-release:   Packages for FreeBSD 5.3-release.
 *packages-5-current:     Packages for FreeBSD-5-current.  Updated
weekly.
 *packages-6-current:     Packages for FreeBSD-6-current.  Updated
weekly.

(* - packages-5-current is currently unavailable .. sorry for the
     inconvenience)

Unless noted otherwise, contents of these directories will not change
except for critical bugfixes.
"

> is there  a uniform standard that can be applied across the 
> various architectures 
> or is that not possible ?  how often are the -current package 
> sets being updated ? 
> once upon a time it was a weekly (?) rebuild.  should mirrors 
> carry this ? if not, 
> should -current package sets be moved out into a completely 
> separate '-current' 
> server layout ?  just as there's a separate freebsd-archive 
> layout/server area.

The only thing I seem to be missing in the other architectures seem to
be a .message file .. ?

Regards,
Patrik F
ftp5/cvsup2/www2 .se.freebsd.org