This page contains documentation about the FreeBSD release engineering process.
NOTE: Release dates are approximate and may be subject to schedule slippage.
| Date | Event | Information |
|---|
The following table lists the code freeze status for the major branches of the src/ subtree of the FreeBSD CVS repository. Commits to any branch listed as "frozen" must first be reviewed and approved by the relevant contact party. The status of other subtrees such as ports/, doc/, and www/ is also provided below.
| Branch | Status | Contact | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEAD | Open | committers | Active development branch for 8-CURRENT. Open for commits, but major changes should be coordinated with &contact.re; until 7.0-RELEASE. | |
| RELENG_7 | Slush | committers | Development branch for 7-STABLE. | |
| RELENG_7_0 | Frozen | &contact.re; | FreeBSD 7.0 release branch. | |
| RELENG_6 | Open | &contact.re; | Development branch for 6-STABLE. | |
| RELENG_6_3 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 6.3 supported errata fix branch. | |
| RELENG_6_2 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 6.2 supported errata fix branch. | |
| RELENG_6_1 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 6.1 supported errata fix branch. | |
| RELENG_6_0 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 6.0 errata fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_5 | Open | committers | Development branch for 5-STABLE. | |
| RELENG_5_5 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.5 supported errata fix branch. | |
| RELENG_5_4 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.4 errata fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_5_3 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.3 errata fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_5_2 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.2 / 5.2.1 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_5_1 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.1 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_5_0 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.0 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4 | Open | committers | Maintenance branch for 4-STABLE (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_11 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.11 errata fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_10 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.10 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_9 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.9 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_8 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.8 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_7 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.7 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_6 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.6 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_5 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.5 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_4 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.4 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_4_3 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.3 security fix branch (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_3 | Open | committers | Maintenance branch for 3-STABLE (not officially supported). | |
| RELENG_2_2 | Open | committers | Maintenance branch for 2.2-STABLE (not officially supported). | |
| Subtree | Status | Contact | Notes | |
| ports/ | -Slush (no sweeping commits until after 6.3 and 7.0 releases) | +Open | &contact.portmgr; | FreeBSD Ports Collection. |
| doc/ | Open | &contact.doc; | SGML/XML based documentation set. | |
| www/ | Open | &contact.www; | FreeBSD Web site sources. |
FreeBSD
Release Engineering
Describes the approach used by the FreeBSD release
engineering team to make production quality releases of the
FreeBSD Operating System. It describes the tools available
for those interested in producing customized FreeBSD releases
for corporate rollouts or commercial
productization.
FreeBSD
Release Engineering for Third Party Packages
Describes the approach used by the FreeBSD release
engineering team to produce a high quality package set
suitable for official FreeBSD release media. This document is
a work in progress, but eventually it will cover the process
used to build a clean package set on the FreeBSD.org "Ports
Cluster", how to configure any other set of machines as a
ports cluster, how to split up the packages for the release
media, and how to verify that a package set is
consistent.
FreeBSD
5-STABLE Roadmap
Described the roadmap for the project for reaching the RELENG_5
branch. Included overall status of 5.x, what was left to be done, and
tentative schedules. Note that this document is now mainly of
historical interest.
Choosing
the FreeBSD Version That Is Right For You
How to decide which version of FreeBSD is right for your
needs. Topics include the releases, branches, the difference
between -CURRENT and -STABLE, and the current scheduling goals
of the project.
The primary release engineering team is responsible for approving MFC requests during code freezes, setting release schedules, and all of the other responsibilities laid out in our charter.
Primary RE Team (re@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re.members; form the primary release engineering decision-making group.
The platform-specific release engineering teams are responsible for building and packaging FreeBSD releases on the given platforms.
Alpha Platform REs (re-alpha@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-alpha;
AMD64 Platform REs (re-amd64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-amd64;
ia64 Platform REs (re-ia64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-ia64;
i386 Platform REs (re-x86@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-i386;
pc98 Platform REs (re-pc98@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-pc98;
PowerPC Platform REs (re-ppc@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-powerpc;
sparc64 Platform REs (re-sparc64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.re-sparc64;
The third party packages in the Ports Collection are managed by the portmgr@ team. Among many other responsibilities, the port managers keep the ports cluster running smoothly to produce binary packages.
Package Builders (&contact.portmgr;) : &a.portmgr;
Where can I find the release directory or ISO images for older FreeBSD releases?
The FreeBSD Project does not maintain a centralized historical archive of old release ISO images, but there are still many options. First, a large collection of the old releases (many complete with the package sets) is at ftp://ftp-archive.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/. Second, try looking on http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org. If you are unable to find an FTP mirror that still contains the release you are looking for, then you can email CD-ROM vendors to see if they have any old releases available. In September 2003, we know of a case where FreeBSD 1.1 was used in a court of law to invalidate a bogus software patent. Clearly, older releases can be very important in some situations.
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