Choosing a version of FreeBSD – operating system branches, code quality, lifespans, and support

Each release of FreeBSD is the end result of periodic special attention – release engineering – to a releng branch of the code for the OS.

With the five-year support model that was established in 2015, two or more major versions may be supported at any one time.

Major versions 13 and 14 are supported.

13 has:

• a long lifespan – the stable/13 branch
• two supported releases – 13.3-RELEASE and 13.4-RELEASE on the releng/13.3 and releng/13.4 branches.

14 has:

• a longer lifespan – the stable/14 branch
• one supported release – 14.1-RELEASE on the releng/14.1 branch.

FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE is recommended for new installations.

Adapted from the timelines at https://codeberg.org/FreeBSD/freebsd-src/src/commit/96c567f972e05c47cd239b6c9226354e808f039b/share/misc/bsd-family-tree#L417-L462:

   |    |
   |  12.2 (end-of-life)
   |    |
   |    `------.
   |           |
   *- 13.0     |
   |  (EOL)    |
   |    |      |
   |    |    12.3 (EOL)
   |    |      |
   |  13.1     |
   |  (EOL)    |
   |    |      |
   |    |    12.4 (EOL)
   |    |
   |  13.2 (EOL)
   |    |
   |    `------.
   |           |
   *- 14.0     |
   |  (EOL)     |
   |    |      |
   |    |    13.3 (ending)
   |    |      |
   |  14.1-    |
   |  RELEASE  |
   |    |      |
   |    |    13.4-RELEASE
   |    |      |
   |
15.0-CURRENT (main branch)

• FreeBSD 12.⋯ releases are end-of-life (no longer supported)
• FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE, 13.1-RELEASE, and 13.2-RELEASE are similarly EOL
• FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE life will end on 31st December 2024
• FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE is alive
• FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE is EOL
• FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE is alive
• FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT is latest.

freebsd-update(8):

• simplifies updates and upgrades with prerelease (ALPHA, BETA, RC (release candidate)) and with RELEASE
• can not be used with STABLE or CURRENT
• pkgbase is an alternative to freebsd-update (see below).

Errata notices and security advisories:

• cover releases and associated stable branches
• do not cover CURRENT.

• stable/13
• releng/13.3
• releng/13.4
• stable/14
• releng/14.0
• releng/14.1
• main – FreeBSD-CURRENT

• pkgbase – the FreeBSD base operating system (OS), packaged
• FreeBSD Update in the FreeBSD Handbook
• FreeBSD Snapshot Releases
• Charter for the Release Engineering Team
• Change to FreeBSD release scheduling and support period (2024)