This page contains documentation about the FreeBSD release engineering process.
NOTE: Release dates are approximate and may be subject to schedule slippage.
TBD 2005 : FreeBSD 5.4 (schedule, todo list, commit policy)
November 2004 : FreeBSD 5.3 (errata policy)
January 2005 : FreeBSD 4.11 (schedule)
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/ and doc/ is also provided below.
| Branch | Status | Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HEAD | Open | Active development branch for -CURRENT. | |
| RELENG_5 | Open | &contact.re; | Development branch for 5-STABLE. |
| RELENG_5_3 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 5.3 supported security fix branch. |
| 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 | &contact.re; | Development branch for 4-STABLE. |
| RELENG_4_11 | +Frozen | +&contact.re; | +Release branch for upcoming FreeBSD 4.11. | +
| RELENG_4_10 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.10 supported errata fix branch. |
| RELENG_4_9 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.9 security fix branch (not officially supported). |
| RELENG_4_8 | Frozen | &contact.so; | FreeBSD 4.8 supported security fix branch. |
| 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/ | Frozen | &contact.portmgr; | FreeBSD Ports Collection. Frozen in preparation for 4.11-RELEASE. |
| doc/ | Open | freebsd-doc | SGML/XML based documentation set. |
| www/ | Open | freebsd-doc | 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
Describes the roadmap for the project for reaching the RELENG_5
branch. Includes overall status of 5.x, what's left to be done, and
tentative schedules.
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.murray;, &a.steve;, &a.rwatson;, &a.jhb;, &a.scottl;, &a.kensmith;, and &a.hrs; 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.scottl;, &a.wilko;, &a.jhb;
AMD64 Platform REs (re-amd64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.obrien;
ia64 Platform REs (re-ia64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.marcel;, &a.peter;
i386 Platform REs (re-x86@FreeBSD.org) : &a.scottl;, &a.murray;, &a.jhb;
pc98 Platform REs (re-pc98@FreeBSD.org) : &a.nyan;
sparc64 Platform REs (re-sparc64@FreeBSD.org) : &a.kensmith;, &a.scottl;, &a.obrien;, &a.jake
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 (portmgr@FreeBSD.org) : &a.kris;, &a.marcus;, &a.linimon;, &a.eik;, &a.krion;
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 CDROM 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.
&footer;