Re: FreeBSD Update is the binary update solution [Re: HEADS UP: Release schedule for 2006]

On Sat, 2005-Dec-17 18:19:25 -0700, Scott Long wrote:
>Peter Jeremy wrote:
>>I think FreeBSD Update shows the way forward but IMHO there needs to
>>be an "official" binary update tool accessible from www.freebsd.org.
>
>FreeBSD Update was written by, and is continuously maintained by the
>actual FreeBSD Security Officer.

I realise that.  But nowhere does it state that it is an "official"
Project tool (though it no longer seems to include the "this is not
sanctioned by the FreeBSD Project" disclaimer that I thought it used
to have).

> If the only barrier to acceptance is that it's not distributed from the
>FreeBSD.org domain, then a) that's a silly argument, and b) it's easily
>solvable so long as Colin agrees.

I agree it's easily solvable.  I disagree that it's a silly argument.
As an end user, I would expect to find online updates to Solaris at
sun.com, Microsoft at microsoft.com, etc.  If I run FreeBSD, I would
expect to find FreeBSD updates at freebsd.org, not daemonology.net.  A
quick search starting at www.freebsd.org does not throw up any
references to FreeBSD Update.  If I didn't know that Colin Percival was
the SO, there would be nothing to suggest that FreeBSD Update had any
relationship to the FreeBSD Project.

Computer users are slowly cottoning on to the idea of computer security.
This is good.  Encouraging them to find an apparently arbitrary site
that says "upgrade your operating system here" does nothing to reinforce
the concept that people should be careful about downloading software
from "unknown" sources.

-- 
Peter Jeremy