14.4. Using FreeBSD-current

1. Join the freebsd-current and cvs-all mailing lists. This is not just a good idea, it's essential. If you aren't on freebsd-current, you won't read the comments that people are making about the current state of the system and thus will end up stumbling over a lot of problems that others have already found and solved. Even more importantly, you will miss out on potentially critical information (e.g. ``Yo, Everybody! Before you rebuild /usr/src, you must rebuild the kernel or your system will crash horribly!"). The cvs-all mailing list will allow you to see the commit log entry for each change as it's made. This can also contain important information, and will let you know what parts of the system are being actively changed. To join these lists, send mail to `majordomo@FreeBSD.ORG' and say:

               subscribe current
               subscribe cvs-all
   

   In the body of your message. Optionally, you can also say `help' and Majordomo will send you full help on how to subscribe and unsubscribe to the various other mailing lists we support.

2. Grab the sources from ftp.FreeBSD.ORG. You can do this in three ways:
   1. Using the CTM facility described below. Unless you have a good TCP/IP connection at a flat rate, this is the way to do it.

   2. Use the CMU `sup' program (Software Update Protocol), also described below. This is the second most recommended method, since it allows you to grab the entire collection once and then only what's changed from then on. Many people run sup from cron and keep their sources up-to-date automatically.

   3. Use ftp. The source tree for FreeBSD-current is always "exported" on:

                   ftp.FreeBSD.ORG:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current
      

      We use `wu-ftpd' which allows compressed/tar'd grabbing of whole trees. e.g. you see:

                  usr.bin/lex
      

      You can do:

                  ftp> cd usr.bin
                  ftp> get lex.tar.Z
      

      And it will get the whole directory for you as a compressed tar file.

3. Essentially, if you need rapid on-demand access to the source and communications bandwidth is not a consideration, use sup or ftp. Otherwise, use CTM.

4. If you're grabbing the sources to run, and not just look at, then grab all of current, not just selected portions. The reason for this is that various parts of the source depend on updates elsewhere and trying to compile just a subset is almost guaranteed to get you into trouble.

5. Before compiling current, read the Makefile in /usr/src carefully. You'll see one-time targets like `bootstrapld' which must be run as part of the upgrading process. Reading freebsd-hackers will keep you up-to-date on other bootstrapping procedures that sometimes become necessary as we move towards the next release.

6. Be active! If you're running FreeBSD-current, we want to know what you have to say about it, especially if you have suggestions for enhancements or bug fixes. Suggestions with accompanying code are received most enthusiastically!