From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 16 08:35:05 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: current@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1E8B216A41F; Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:35:05 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from scottl@samsco.org) Received: from pooker.samsco.org (pooker.samsco.org [168.103.85.57]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7912543D55; Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:35:00 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from scottl@samsco.org) Received: from [192.168.254.11] (junior.samsco.home [192.168.254.11]) (authenticated bits=0) by pooker.samsco.org (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id jBG8Ywug016608; Fri, 16 Dec 2005 01:34:59 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from scottl@samsco.org) Message-ID: <43A27C32.6020501@samsco.org> Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 01:34:58 -0700 From: Scott Long User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.7.8) Gecko/20050615 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Gary Kline References: <43A266E5.3080103@samsco.org> <20051216082704.GA52634@thought.org> In-Reply-To: <20051216082704.GA52634@thought.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.4 required=3.8 tests=ALL_TRUSTED autolearn=failed version=3.1.0 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.0 (2005-09-13) on pooker.samsco.org Cc: stable@freebsd.org, current Subject: Re: HEADS UP: Release schedule for 2006 X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:35:05 -0000 Gary Kline wrote: > On Fri, Dec 16, 2005 at 12:04:05AM -0700, Scott Long wrote: > >>All, >> >>The following is the approximate schedule for FreeBSD releases in 2006: >> >>Jan 30: Freeze RELENG_5 and RELENG_6 >>Mar 20: Release FreeBSD 6.1 >>Apr 3: Release FreeBSD 5.5 >>Jun 12: Freeze RELENG_6 >>Jul 31: Release FreeBSD 6.2 >>Oct 23: Freeze RELENG_6 >>Dec 11: Release FreeBSD 6.3 >> >>A 'freeze' means that the tree will be closed to changes except with >>specific approval, and the focus will be on producing, testing, and >>fixing release candidates. The release dates are targets that we hope >>to make, but we will continue with the policy of only releasing once >>all of the showstoppers are cleared, i.e. we will release when it is >>ready. >> >>FreeBSD 5 >>5.5 will be the final release from the RELENG_5 tree. We are doing it >>to provide support for users who have committed to FreeBSD 5 and who >>need more time to transition to FreeBSD 6. However, in order to keep >>forward progress with FreeBSD 6, we will produce this in parallel with >>the 6.1 release, and thus it will not be our main focus. Users who are >>using FreeBSD 5 are strongly encouraged to evaluate FreeBSD 6. After >>this final release, the security team will provide security update >>support through 2007. > > > Sounds like an ambitious schedule... All my FBSD servers > are at least up to 5.3; my laptop is happy at 5.4. I have > what I believe to be a rationalquestion. Why should I go > beyond v5.5? More to the point, why can't minor security > tweaks be maintained indefinitely for 5.5? Security updates will be maintained for quite a while. However, it takes manpower to test each proposed security change, so it's very hard to justify doing them 'indefinitely'. The stated policy from the security team is 2 years. So they will probably support 5.5 into 2008, but I wanted to be conservative in my statement in case they have different plans. > What will > releases -6 and -7 offer that can;t reasonably be dropped > into -5? Significant performance and stability enhancements that simply cannot be broken up and backported to FreeBSD 5. We are marching towards a 'Giant-less' kernel, which means continuing better SMP performance and better UP responsiveness. With 6.0 we are finally starting to see the benefit of the SMPng work that we've been doing for 5 years. Scott