The next release of DragonFly will be 6.0, mostly because 5.10 is an annoying version number rather than any significant version changes. We’re due to release by the biannual calendar schedule – but there’s a DRI bug that needs to be fixed; I plan to tag as soon as that’s done.
re(4) testers needed
If you have a Realtek network card supported by the re(4) driver, Sepherosa Ziehau has a new driver for you to test.
Maybe an API change
Because of this commit that makes some changes to lib/stdio, you might get more reinstalls than you expect on your next pkg upgrade because of the __DragonFly_version change. This only applies to -current (5.9) users.
(I might be wrong)
Minimal kernel configs
If you want to build a kernel with no options, stripped down, here you go. I don’t know how useful it would be…
Major callout API changes in DragonFly
Matthew Dillon has made significant changes to the callout API in DragonFly. Interesting to look at, but I think no changes from a user point of view.
ifconfig as a warning signal
I’ve seen this multiple times over the years: if ifconfig suddenly stops working, especially after an upgrade. your kernel and world are out of sync. Rebuild and make sure you get both updated.
Libressl update in DragonFly
DragonFly has a new version of libressl, noting cause it has a newer TLS1.3 implementation – something that may be necessary for you.
For Zen 2 users
If you’ve got a Zen 2 / Ryzen 4000 APU, the amdsmn(4)/amdtemp(4) drivers in DragonFly now support it.
dhcpcd-9.3.2 in DragonFly
There’s a minor update to dhcpcd in DragonFly, which may be of specific interest if you’re on an IPv4/IPv6 network – there’s a Preferred option added for that.
Binutils and linker changes
binutils and ld in DragonFly have been set to binutils234 and ld.bfd temporarily, for what appears to be work with the EFI bootloader. This should not make a difference for normal use; rebuilding binaries will give you different results but they’ll run.
cpdup and symlinks
cpdup(1) will now exactly recreate symlinks. That may be helpful for your backup strategy if it already involves cpdup.
sysmouse fixes everything
Well, it doesn’t fix anything, but it seems like an answer that almost always helps: running sysmouse usually fixes most X11 mouse problems.
DragonFly and clang10
You can now use compilers.conf(5) to switch to clang10/llvm10 for building Dragonfly. Untested yet!
kernel vs. userland check
This seems so minor, but such a good idea: a regular check to make sure kernel and userland are in sync.
libedit update in DragonFly
Daniel Fojt’s updated libedit in DragonFly; not huge, but I mention it cause I’ve seen the very first bug fixed in the commit listing; garbled history.
Existential structural tracking in DragonFly
Matthew Dillon added “existence locks” to DragonFly, which as usual he committed with a long, descriptive message.
A little more in uname
There’s now -K (kernel) and -U (user env) options to uname. Minor, but good to know the change.
sh as cross-pollination tool
I always thought of cross-pollination – sharing of code between BSDs – as a good thing. This seems like the most basic way to do that: same base sh.
How to lose all your packages
If you delete all your installed packages, you will also lose the certificate used by pkg to verify the connection to download new ones. There’s several workarounds for this problem.
New dports binaries available
A complete set of new dports binaries have been built, for 5.8 and for -current, so now is a good time to upgrade. Update to 5.8.3 if you haven’t yet, while you are at it.