Re: Overall "feel" for the stability of FreeBSD 5

This discussion is getting off-topic for this list, I think.
I'm redirecting to -questions, unless you feel your reply is
relevent to 5, please remove the cc to -current if you reply
(more below) ...

From: "Scott Long" <scott_long_at_btc.adaptec.com>
> Matthew Emmerton wrote:
> > From: "Bill Moran" <billm_at_craftmfg.com>
> >>From: "Matthew Emmerton" <matt_at_gsicomp.on.ca>
> >>
> >>>From: "Bill Moran" <billm_at_craftmfg.com>
> >>>
> >>>>I'm considering setting up a FreeBSD 5 machine as a dedicated
> >>>>backup/archive computer on a network I administer.
> >>>>
> >>>>I'm curious to hear some opinions on how wise this is.  I know
> >>>>that 5 is still in a -CURRENT status and I've seen (and repeated)
> >>>>the warnings that it's not really production quality yet.
> >>>>
> >>>>So I'm curious as to a number of facets of its capibilities:
> >>>>1) With the current developmet effort ... does it seem like 5.1
> >>>>   will be -STABLE ... or do folks feel that a -STABLE brand
> >>>>   is further off (5.2?)
> >>>>2) For a dedicated backup server, that can tolerate the
> >>>>   performance problems that folks have been reporting, and
> >>>>   won't upset the entire office if it panics on occasion, is 5
> >>>>   good enough at this point?
> >>>>
> >>>>I know this is inviting a lot of opinion and conjecture ... but I need
> >>>>some idea of where I can go with this.  These folks need a solution
> >>>>soon, and I don't want to pass on something that's not ready yet.
> >>>>On the flip side, the nature of the beast means that it doesn't NEED
> >>>>to be a reliable as I normally expect a FreeBSD server to be, so
> >>>>there's a little more tolerance than usual.
> >>>>
> >>>>Any input is greatly appreciated.
> >>>
> >>>What's wrong with 4.8-RELEASE?
> >>
> >>Doesn't support DVD burning.
> >>
> >>Sorry ... forgot to specify my reasons ;)
> > 
> > What is the piece you're missing -- UDF filesystem support or ata driver
> > support?
> 
> The UDF support in 5.x is for reading only.  DVD data disks do not
> require the UDF filesystem and can in fact work just fine with cd9660 or 
> even UFS.  DVD video disks usually require UDF as dvd players don't
> understand anything else, but editing and mastering a dvd video disk is
> well beyond the scope of this and I would highly recommend using a Mac.

For the record ... my only requirement at this time is to burn data DVDs
that are compatible across multiple OSes (specifically, FreeBSD, Mac, and
Windows).  From what I'm hearing, I can accomplish this with cd9660 fs.
I wasn't aware of this ... I thought I needed UDF support for 4G filesystems,
but that's all the more reason I'm glad I asked.

> Burning some of the DVD formats requires special support, while others
> can be burned just like a CD.  I thought that 4.x and 5.x were at the
> same level for this support, but Soeren would have the definitive
> answer.
> 
> > I've seen patches to 4-STABLE to add UDF filesystem support.  Perhaps that's
> > all you need.
> 
> Really?  I thought that the backporting effort had died out.  Can you
> provide a link?

I found this:
http://www.whiterose.net/~mrpink/freebsd/dvdr.php
Which seemed very promising.  I contacted the author and he says that
he's been burning DVD data backups with no problems ever since he
wrote the article.

I assume the capibilities in 5 are equal or better than those in 4, but
(as you stated) Soeren would know for sure.  I'll try to contact him
next ... I'm sure he's been doing nothing but sitting around waiting for
someone like me to pester him ;)

Thanks for the input,
Bill