Ahoy!

  I have used FreeBSD for several years, and track
"FreeBSD-stable" on several machines.  Occassionally I will
perform a "cvsup" and rebuild the world and a new kernel.
Then I run "mergemaster" to update various "etc" type files.
  On some machines I have installed NetBSD.  There are some
differences, and this email is to ask for clarifaction between
tracking "FreeBSD-stable" and something equivalent on NetBSD.

Q1:  It seems that whereas there are "FreeBSD-releases,
     "FreeBSD-stable" and "FreeBSD-current" there are
     "NetBSD-releases" and "NetBSD-current".  So while I may update a
     FreeBSD-stable machine at any time and will probably get a stable
     working setup, with NetBSD I should wait for specific releases
     (such as 1.5.1 and 1.5.2) if I am not willing to struggle with
     "NetBSD-current".  True?

Q2:  When I update my FreeBSD machines I perform a "source update".
     I don't see much reference to "binary updates" on FreeBSD.
     In contrast, it seems that NetBSD updates are available as
     "binary" or "source", and for those who do track only the releases
     it probably is more convenient to track the "binary" releases rather
     than "source and compile" updates.  True?

  My hat is off to the folks from both the FreeBSD and NetBSD projects.

Marty Cawthon
ChipChat