http://www.osnews.com/story/12211/FreeBSD_6_0_RC_Released_to_FTP Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2010, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:56:02 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?43305 http://osnews.com/thread?43305 This is the best FreeBSD release thus far.
Congrats to the developers! I use it as my
main system and it is far more stable than the
5.x series. It has everything I need and feels
snappy. Couldn't ask for more. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43314 http://osnews.com/thread?43314 Why do not the release engineers wait until all the known bugs are fixed and tested before shipping a release candidate version ?http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.0R/todo.html Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (corentin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43320 http://osnews.com/thread?43320 Time to cvsup and make buildworld. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43321 http://osnews.com/thread?43321 That list is probably outdated. It's been like that for a while. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43323 http://osnews.com/thread?43323 There will always be bugs and at some point you have say these bugs are not very importante and proceed with the release. If you aim at bugfree then youll never release! Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43327 http://osnews.com/thread?43327 It's about time! I need to get a system up and running and I've been waiting for 6.0 forever! Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43331 http://osnews.com/thread?43331 So, what's new and cool in this release? Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43332 http://osnews.com/thread?43332 > If you aim at bugfree then youll never release!

You are correct, complex software can not be bug free (except in a few places, with strict methods).

But I thought the point of a release candidate was to say "there are no *known* bugs in this version, we believe it is stable, try it for a while and let us see if no important bug is discovered, then we will release a final version. Otherwise, we will correct the found bugs and issue another release candidate version until it is ready." Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (corentin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43333 http://osnews.com/thread?43333 "As of yet, there are no announcements or release notes."

Maybe they wanted to update the mirrors (which they are not) before people start to download like crazy from the main servers! Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43337 http://osnews.com/thread?43337 I agree to some extent but, I thought this was the general difference between BSD Philosophy (perfection) and the average GNU Zealot philosophy (hype). ??? Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Haicube) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43339 http://osnews.com/thread?43339 > So, what's new and cool in this release?

Much improved wireless support and important performance improvements (among other things).

I hope the overall stability will be better, too Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (corentin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43340 http://osnews.com/thread?43340 Maybe but this is how it is. They have a list of desired features and things to fix and they are not always high priority. They don't stop the release for small and not important bugs. But I think, as someone said, the list is not up to date. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43347 http://osnews.com/thread?43347 so Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43348 http://osnews.com/thread?43348 Just cvsupped and made world.I was allready pleased with the beta.FreeBSD 6 is a milestone.

kudos to the devs and all who helped. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43372 http://osnews.com/thread?43372 Mutli-threaded filesystem, network stack & wireless support. Much better support for AMD64 motherboards. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 17:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43374 http://osnews.com/thread?43374 I don't see anything listed as required for 6.0 release on that page that affects the code itself. And no show stopper defects either.

Other things listed look like they require investigations and other things that would take much longer than can be motivated at this point.

"Not done" may also imply that there is a solution for most of the cases that trigger the bug, but a working solution that covers all known cases is not there yet. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 17:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Marcellus) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43395 http://osnews.com/thread?43395 Why do not the release engineers wait until all the known bugs are fixed and tested before shipping a release candidate version ?http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.0R/todo.html

The lack of some documentation and "desired features" are the only not-dones left. These are very small things, and as said, the list is outdated, Last modified: 2005/10/06 18:19:38. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43415 http://osnews.com/thread?43415 Schedule
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.0R/schedule.html

FreeBSD 6.0 Open Issues
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.0R/todo.html

This is disconcerting that this is posted before the official annoucement; for a variety of reasons.

1) It could be pulled back
2) Surprise load on servers; be kind to the admins of those box's who donate server space and bandwidth.
3) Give time so that all servers can be syncd so that a few servers aren't taking the brunt of the load.

This has been covered before on OSNews; this cavalier attitude has a lot to be desired.

PS: Typcial responses:
1) It should be posted
2) They could hide the files
3) Blah blah....

Go ahead and
1) Mod down
2) delete post
Its typical of osnews policy and staff. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43421 http://osnews.com/thread?43421 >Go ahead and
>1) Mod down
>2) delete post
>Its typical of osnews policy and staff.

Nah. The big problem is all the slashdotters that find their way here to kick and scream until everyone who has something to say get tired and just shut up. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Marcellus) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43422 http://osnews.com/thread?43422 Is SMP supported with the default kernel or do you have to still compile it? Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43425 http://osnews.com/thread?43425 gotta give credit to FreeBSD, they are already ahead of linux. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 18:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43437 http://osnews.com/thread?43437 Netcraft confirms it: BSD is dead. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43447 http://osnews.com/thread?43447 there is no linux 5.10, the latest linux version is 2.6.13.4. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (yanik) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43452 http://osnews.com/thread?43452 > This has been covered before on OSNews; this cavalier attitude has a lot to be desired.

C'mon, we already know they are doing it this way BECAUSE of posts like yours. Reasons are two; first, controversy generates posts and ad-hits (and this one is small enough that it is hard to accuse OSNews of trolling). Second, the OSNews persona (the compound "personality" of its staff) is a stubborn five-year-old who cannot take the slightest bit of criticism and refuses to change just in spite.

...or perhaps I am just a bit too bitter about Internet stupidities, and the premature BSD announcement tradition is only a lighthearted running gag like the horrible Slashdot April 1st. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43463 http://osnews.com/thread?43463 > mini rant deleted
Bleh. In reply to myself, now that I read that, I DO feel bitter. Had a rough day, no reason to lash out like that. Sorry to waste your mod points, but please remove...

Though I really feel that OSNews are making themselves look a bit sensationalistic with the direct link to ftp while the release is unannounced. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:49:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43467 http://osnews.com/thread?43467 This has been covered before on OSNews; this cavalier attitude has a lot to be desired.

We're a newssite, and if there's news, it's news. Unless someone specific with authority from within a company or community emails us and explains us why we shouldn't post an item due to the reasons you listed, then we won't post them. I have some of those agreements already. One of them in particular is going to be interesting at the end of October . Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43468 http://osnews.com/thread?43468 --We're a newssite, and if there's news, it's news. Unless someone specific with authority from within a company or community emails us and explains us why we shouldn't post an item due to the reasons you listed, then we won't post them. I have some of those agreements already.--

Just because you CAN do something does not mean you should. If you like to have mirror operators hate you, or if you like to mislead people by offering up news before it's announced, you surely can.

But don't complain if people criticize you for not doing the "right" thing and waiting until the announcement that the release is tagged and out to all the mirrors. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bubbayank) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43479 http://osnews.com/thread?43479 Just because you CAN do something does not mean you should.

Look, if someone from the FreeBSD community with authority asks me not to post this sorts of news until they announce them, then I won't do it anymore, as simply as that. I got to hear about this release via email.

For now, I haven't heard a thing, these .iso's are on *public* ftp, and that means people can download them. It is our job as newssite about operating systems to make sure people know that.

But don't complain if people criticize you for not doing the "right" thing and waiting until the announcement that the release is tagged and out to all the mirrors.

I can't recall myself complaining, actually. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43485 http://osnews.com/thread?43485 Here is the announcement (from Scott Long):
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2005-October/056...

So please chill... Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43495 http://osnews.com/thread?43495 >Why do not the release engineers wait until all the known bugs are fixed and tested before shipping a release candidate version >?http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.0R/todo.html

Same reason a lot of *nix software never ships a 1.0 version. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43508 http://osnews.com/thread?43508 %uname -mrs
FreeBSD 6.0-RC1 i386 Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43509 http://osnews.com/thread?43509 Is it just me, or FreeBSD (kernel) has seen much more developer activity than the Linux 2.6 series ?

And where is 2.7 and 2.8 ? or maybe 3.0 Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43512 http://osnews.com/thread?43512 Come on guys, Thom is working as a volunteer to give us invaluable news on hi-tech. We have all we need on one good news web site. I don't see the point to bash him. I'd like to see you all do 10% of what he does, and then see if you still have the balls to criticize his work.

These people make me sick, sorry. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Joe User) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43513 http://osnews.com/thread?43513 How many people here are having issues getting simple USB mice to work with 6.0? Yeah, I know that bugs are inevitable in beta software, but damn. I pop in a 4.8-R CD, and everything works fine. I pop in a 5.4-R CD, and no USB mouse. Same with 6.0. It sees the mouse (there is a /dev/ums0) but niether X.org nor moused can use it.

Changing the moused_port="/dev/ums0" doesn't work. changing it to anything else I can think of doesn't work either. X.org can't start cause it fails to initialize the corepointer. I've tried sysmouse, busmouse, /dev/ums0 I've tried blowing away /dev/sysmouse and replacing it with a link to /dev/ums0. Changing BIOS settings also does nothing. Putting on the PS/2 adapter and going with the FreeBSD defaults works. *blink*

It's a goddamned USB mouse! The FreeBSD OS used to be able to use it, and Open/NetBSD have *NO* problems with it to this day. Linux has no problems with it. Winodws has no problems with it!

WTF is going on here? What good is a multi-threaded operating system going to be to your everyday user if it has such trouble with really basic hardware? Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43536 http://osnews.com/thread?43536 I've got several different Logitech USB models, and they all work out of the box with FreeBSD 6.0. Maybe your broken USB mouse has the text "Microsoft" printed on it... Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43537 http://osnews.com/thread?43537 WTF are YOU talking about? I've been using 6.x since rock and I have never had an issue with usb mice. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (celt) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43546 http://osnews.com/thread?43546 I've had a similar experience with FreeBSD 5.4 and I've got a Logitech USB mouse on my play box (the one I'm using now). It doesn't work under 5.4. USB works on a couple other machines that I've tested it on, and I know that earlier releases of FreeBSD have had no problems with the mouse on this particular machine. *shrug* I couldn't say whats going on.

Shitty hardware? Shitty USB stack? No idea. I'm using a NetBSD live CD on the play box right now, and the mouse works fine.

Welcome to the world of computers. Some things work sometimes ;^) Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Lazarus) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43577 http://osnews.com/thread?43577 My microsoft usb mouse works under freebsd 5.4 && 6.0 Tue, 11 Oct 2005 22:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43584 http://osnews.com/thread?43584 I think the guy meant it as a joke. I love OSNews but people should lighten up a bit Tue, 11 Oct 2005 22:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43609 http://osnews.com/thread?43609 I'd use FreeBSD it's an excellent system but the lack of HAL support sorta makes using my beloved GNOME desktop sorta mood on FreeBSD. I heard several reports of people starting to work on support but ever since it's inception, there has been no effort to succed in bring HAL to FreeBSD. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43629 http://osnews.com/thread?43629 I have been using Firefox for a while. It is a good product.
There is one issue: many web sites are developed with asp. Some of them are not properly handled with Firefox. Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43653 http://osnews.com/thread?43653 True. Why hasn't the Linux 2.7 project even commenced yet? Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43668 http://osnews.com/thread?43668 I'm using 6.0beta-3 and it's stable it has no problems with any of my hardware. I've been using Freebsd since the early 5 series so I know about alot of the problems. But I can say the Freebsd team has got their stuff together 6.0 is outstanding. I had no problems installing it on my athlon64 nforce3 mobo. I want to applaud the team for their work. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43678 http://osnews.com/thread?43678 I'm just wondering how is the wireless card support in
this version of FreeBSD, I heard that WPA is being
implemented. Anyone try?
(Would like to know your experiences.) Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43711 http://osnews.com/thread?43711 Looks like for a x.0 Release Candidate. Guess my only request (FWIW) would be a DVD ISO. Thankfully the BSD's don't need half a dozen (or close) to it to get the OS installed, grin.

Hat's off the the FreeBSD RE team. Looks like 6.0 may wind up being more ready to go than the later 5.x version. Appears they've realized that they tried to do too much in the 5.x series and gotten much more focused with 6.x. Granted, they made it clear that the 5.x series was more of a tech preview versus the production grade conservative 4.x versions.

The 6.0 RC and if you find bugs, don't gripe, send them to the developers to fix! It's a release candidate of a x.0 version, keep perspective.

JT Wed, 12 Oct 2005 02:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43727 http://osnews.com/thread?43727 FreeBSD? Stable? no way... Dos 6.22 4 ever Wed, 12 Oct 2005 03:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43750 http://osnews.com/thread?43750 "It doesn't work under 5.4. USB works on a couple other machines that I've tested it on, and I know that earlier releases of FreeBSD"

Just recompile the kernel with the USB 2.0 option.
That's all.

Perhaps the default kernel should ship with USB 2.0 enabled? Wed, 12 Oct 2005 04:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43766 http://osnews.com/thread?43766 "Just recompile the kernel with the USB 2.0 option."

Heh if *thats* the reason, I'd have to avoid FreeBSD like the plague on the grounds that such a requirement is stupid as my play box predates USB 2.0 ;^)

Something to try regardless... Wed, 12 Oct 2005 05:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Lazarus) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43779 http://osnews.com/thread?43779 > True. Why hasn't the Linux 2.7 project even commenced yet?

It has; as a set of patches on developer machines all around the world. But it will take some time to get them to work together and test them. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 06:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (corentin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43818 http://osnews.com/thread?43818 I am a long time FreeBSD user (since 2.2.6) and I use it as my favourite desktop/development system. I think the FreeBSD developers have lost the feeling for their users needs when they started to completely redesign the system after 4.x. What is the use in improving SMP etc. when there are not enough developers to keep some of the basic functionality in place?

Some of the problems I see as an average user is:

- I can't use a parallel printer ("interrupt storm") unless I switch to polling mode, which causes unnecessary high cpu load.

- The sound system is broken: depending on your hardware and system load, you can not even listen mp3 files without distortions or stuttering.

- In 6.x Mozilla and Firefox crash unexpectedly.

Let's hope for 7.x.

kaasboer Wed, 12 Oct 2005 08:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaasboer) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43828 http://osnews.com/thread?43828 >- I can't use a parallel printer ("interrupt storm") unless I switch to polling mode, which causes unnecessary high cpu load.

Then use an USB cable.

>- The sound system is broken: depending on your hardware and system load, you can not
>even listen mp3 files without distortions or stuttering.

This was solved a long time ago.
(putting: "options PREEMPTION" into your kernel config also helps)

>- In 6.x Mozilla and Firefox crash unexpectedly.

Use opera, it's free Wed, 12 Oct 2005 09:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43836 http://osnews.com/thread?43836 Wow it must be something you're doing wrong because I don't have any of those problems. I'm listening to Mp3's right now and use Firefox 1.07. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43841 http://osnews.com/thread?43841 >- The sound system is broken: depending on your hardware and system load, you can not
>even listen mp3 files without distortions or stuttering.

No problem here.So i don't think the sound system is broken.It's more likely a broken driver for your particular hardware.

My nforce3 250 motherboard plays mp3's on FreeBSD 6 better than on many linux distros. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 11:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43849 http://osnews.com/thread?43849 am a long time FreeBSD user (since 2.2.6)
What do you mean "since 2.2.6"? That looks more like Linux version numbering. Did FreeBSD have a different numbering scheme back then?

Also I dont recognise the problems you have. But then I have only used FreeBSD since 4.x. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 11:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43854 http://osnews.com/thread?43854 The 2.2.6 release was announced in March 1998:

http://www.freebsd.org/releases/2.2.6R/announce.html

2.2.6 : 03/1998
2.2.8 : 11/1998
3.0 : 10/1998 (yes, slightly before 2.2.8)
...
4.x : 03/2000
...
5.3 : 11/2004
...
6.x : est. 10/2005

kaasboer Wed, 12 Oct 2005 11:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaasboer) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?43952 http://osnews.com/thread?43952 Actually, it's normal to release with known bugs, and it's not a problem, as long as you tell what the bugs are.

However, you should not release anything with severe known bugs - but releasing with known bugs are ordinary. You cannot fix all bugs - not even known bugs.

Every bugfix adds new code - every new code adds possibility for new bugs, so beware when fixing bugs. Wed, 12 Oct 2005 15:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dylansmrjones) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?44127 http://osnews.com/thread?44127 I don't have any problems at all. What makes you think your problem is representative for whole FreeBSD? Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?44131 http://osnews.com/thread?44131 What do you mean "since 2.2.6"? That looks more like Linux version numbering. Did FreeBSD have a different numbering scheme back then?

Also I dont recognise the problems you have. But then I have only used FreeBSD since 4.x.

So then you must remember 5.2.1. What do you mean, different versioning scheme? Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?44603 http://osnews.com/thread?44603 "I can't use a parallel printer ("interrupt storm") unless I switch to polling mode, which causes unnecessary high cpu load."

I also had that problem. Setting

hw.intr_storm_threshold=5000

in sysctl.conf fixed that for my Laserjet 6P.

"The sound system is broken: depending on your hardware and system load, you can not even listen mp3 files without distortions or stuttering."

Broken? Did you try to adjust the relevant system variables? E.g. adding

hw.snd.pcm0.buffersize="65535"
hw.snd.targetirqrate="48"

in loader.conf fixed that "problem" for me.

As for complaining about 6.x - you do understand that release candidates are there for people to find bugs and give feedback to the project? Have you filed bugreports on your crashes? Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments