Hi there,

I've just installed Slackware -current for the first time, and was wondering if I should change the REPO_BRANCH variable in /etc/sbopkg/sbopkg.conf from 14.1 to -current and then re-sync? Does anything else need changing when using sbopkg with -current?

Also, just generally, what are the things I should look out for when using sbopkg with Slackware's -current branch?

Hi,

You can't use sbopkg with -current, because http://slackbuilds.org only provides SlackBuilds for stable versions.

-current is not a branch, but a tentative preview of the packages that could make their way in the next stable Slackware version, provided for testing purposes only.

Use Slackware version 14.1. You will get instructions for upgrading when the new stable version will be released.

Wow - many thanks for the incredibly quick response! I shall leave everything as it is then.

BUT!! Unofficially... https://github.com/Ponce/slackbuilds...ry-with-sbopkg lets you use https://github.com/Ponce/slackbuilds

(there are still ~150 packages that don't work with -current yet)

Hmmmm... that slightly muddies the water! So which is most recommended? Or is it the case, as suggested by that wiki page, that I can switch back and forth between the -current git repo and the stable 14.1? Coming from an OpenBSD background where mixing anything -current with anything -stable or -release, is an absolute no, no, this seems almost heretical!

So, from the sounds of it, I could keep the 14.1 branch set as the default in sbopkg.conf, but then if I run into an issue with a particular port, try running sbopkg with the -V SBo-git/current flag, to see if the issue is fixed in the dev repo?

hi knowayhack,

just to be clear that repository is not the development one of SBo and it's not endorsed or supported by SBo people in any way.

as written in the main page of the wiki it's a place where patches to run SBo's stuff on current are collected and you can also configure sbopkg to use it.

IMHO it doesn't make much sense to switch back and forth a repository for 14.1 and one for current when building stuff but that doesn't mean that you cannot do it (that is the sense of the instructions): you are free to do what you prefer.

but I suppose you know that current is the development version of Slackware, it's not a rolling release: if you decide to switch to it it's supposed that you do it to help development/reporting bugs and you can solve most problems yourself.

and that repository is a testing ground, continuously updated, over the testing ground of current, be aware of it.

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Ponce's repo is a clone of SBo with selective fixes for -current layered on top.
So if you stick with Ponce's repo, then

• If a fix for -current exists, you will get the fix
• if a fix for -current does not exist, you will get the vanilla package, and if the vanilla package breaks (~150 out of ~5200) some poor bloody mug already knows about it and is working on a fix, but there is nothing you can do other than (a) wait or (b) devise a fix and submit it to Ponce

But it is not my place, or anyone else's, to make recommendations. Those are the facts, do what you like

I find the engineering good taste of OpenBSD people completely inspirational, but other than that, the most unused word in their vocabulary is 'nuance'. Here amongst the Slackers it pays to use reason as a substitute for authoritarianism

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Cheers for the response ponce, and duly noted. I'm quite familiar with the ground moving under me, so to speak, and am always happy to report bugs :-) Probably should have done more reading/research before posting here! Just very exited to be Slacking again :-) It's been a while...

Very well put! As much as I love the OpenBSD ethos and community, it sure is a refreshing change to be back on a system with a wee bit more slack (in the best possible way) !! Not to mention a community, that, from the looks of it, takes itself a wee bit less seriously... (again, in the best possible way). Or maybe a better way to put it - is slightly more approachable and friendly to us noobs.

Thanks again for the swift advice guys

Thanks Mr Hack, although I failed to see the obvious nuance that Ponce has authority to make recommendations about Ponce's repo, so you definitely should take me less seriously.

Through the miracle of Github, Ponce's pull requests are open seven days a week by the way

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