Index: UPDATING =================================================================== --- UPDATING +++ UPDATING @@ -1901,12 +1901,13 @@ can be deleted by "make delete-old-libs", but you have to make sure that no program is using those libraries anymore. - [8] In order to have a kernel that can run the 4.x binaries needed to - do an installworld, you must include the COMPAT_FREEBSD4 option in - your kernel. Failure to do so may leave you with a system that is - hard to boot to recover. A similar kernel option COMPAT_FREEBSD5 is - required to run the 5.x binaries on more recent kernels. And so on - for COMPAT_FREEBSD6 and COMPAT_FREEBSD7. + [8] The new kernel must be able to run existing binaries used by + an installworld. When upgrading across major versions, the new + kernel's configuration must include the correct COMPAT_FREEBSD + option for existing binaries (e.g. COMPAT_FREEBSD11 to run 11.x + binaries). Failure to do so may leave you with a system that is + hard to boot to recover. A GENERIC kernel will include suitable + compatibility options to run binaries from older branches. Make sure that you merge any new devices from GENERIC since the last time you updated your kernel config file.