# 10 reasons to upgrade from 8 to 9



## pines (Apr 22, 2013)

As the title tell me 10 reasons to upgrade.


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## Pushrod (Apr 22, 2013)

9 > 8


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## fonz (Apr 22, 2013)

Some of the newer external HDDs don't work (properly or at all) with FreeBSD 8 but work just fine with 9. I suspect this has something to do with USB3 support.

Or perhaps more generally: not all new technology (especially hardware drivers) that is developed for FreeBSD 9 will/can be backported to 8.


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## pkubaj (Apr 22, 2013)

Just read http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.0R/relnotes.html. It's even more than 10. And here's why upgrade to 9.1 (besides lack of support for 9.0) http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.1R/relnotes.html.


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## ChalkBored (Apr 22, 2013)

If you don't care enough to find out for yourself, then Pushrod's reason is the only one that matters.


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## throAU (Apr 23, 2013)

pkubaj said:
			
		

> Just read http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.0R/relnotes.html. It's even more than 10. And here's why upgrade to 9.1 (besides lack of support for 9.0) http://www.freebsd.org/releases/9.1R/relnotes.html.



On the contrary, if you are currently using 8 successfully on 8.x supported hardware in a large number of scenarios (mail, DNS), I don't actually see ANY compelling reason to justify an upgrade to 9.x on the release notes. Other than continued support, of course.

Sure, there is some enhanced driver support, a couple more monitoring APIs and some additional not-built-by-default features, but in terms of "killer new feature" - there just isn't one.

Now, this isn't to complain about a lack of development, it's simply a sign of a fairly mature system.


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## pines (Apr 24, 2013)

Thanks for your interest. Add other information,

use FreeBSD for hobby
I have a server at home 24/24 7/7 online, the uptime is 292 days with a small site.

Future developments:

Insert FreeNAS in a jail (if it is possible)
Interfacing with arduino home automation system
Change the motherboard and migration to 64bit  to have at least 16 GB of RAM, I would not reformat and reinstall everything. 
other ...


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## SirDice (Apr 24, 2013)

throAU said:
			
		

> On the contrary, if you are currently using 8 successfully on 8.x supported hardware in a large number of scenarios (mail, DNS), I don't actually see ANY compelling reason to justify an upgrade to 9.x on the release notes.
> 
> Other than continued support, of course.


I agree with that. As long as 8.x is still supported and you have no compelling reason to upgrade to the next major version keep them at 8.x. But do make sure you use a supported 8.x version. Of course it doesn't hurt to start testing with 9.x now so you are ready when support for 8.x ends (I think you have about 2 years for that).


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## SirDice (Apr 24, 2013)

pines said:
			
		

> I have a server at home 24/24 7/7 online, the uptime is 292 days with a small site.


Uptimes are overrated. It also means you haven't installed your security updates for a while. That's a bad sign. Don't get too hung up on your uptime. Bragging rights about uptimes are a thing of the past. These days it simply means you haven't been paying attention to your security.


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## DutchDaemon (Apr 24, 2013)

If only that message would hit home some day ..


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## pines (Apr 24, 2013)

SirDice said:
			
		

> Uptimes are overrated. It also means you haven't installed your security updates for a while. That's a bad sign. Don't get too hung up on your uptime. Bragging rights about uptimes are a thing of the past. These days it simply means you haven't been paying attention to your security.



I did a security update but I have not had to reboot, I have to do some upgrades that are planned in the coming days. I am aware that security is required.

"a secure computer is one off"



			
				DutchDaemon said:
			
		

> If only that message would hit home some day ..


I'm sorry I did not understand what you mean, I think it's a joke


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## kpa (Apr 24, 2013)

What DD is saying is that people in general don't learn until the s*it hits the fan and their systems get compromised because they didn't bother to install security updates.


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## plamaiziere (Apr 24, 2013)

pines said:
			
		

> As the title tell me 10 reasons to upgrade.



Because I'm an adventurer (from time to time you must be that to run FreeBSD IMO). If I don't try 9, who else will try it for my workload?

There are also nice things in 9.X (UFS journal, ada driver)...

Regards.


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## Beastie (Apr 24, 2013)

pines said:
			
		

> DutchDaemon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





> hit home
> to be understood completely and have a strong effect


http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hit+home


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## Savagedlight (Apr 24, 2013)

pines said:
			
		

> the uptime is 292 days with a small site.


292 days ago.. that means you installed your system before or at 6th July 2012, and haven't rebooted to apply kernel-related security patches since then. I do believe you'd have to restart affected services to properly apply non-kernel security patches.

As others have stated, system uptime is irrelevant. Service availability is what matters; And if your site can't stand a couple minutes downtime for patches, you should look into setting up a cluster. 

</rant>


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