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, 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 – 13.2-RELEASE and 13.3-RELEASE on the releng/13.2 and releng/13.3 branches.

14 has:

• a longer lifespan – the stable/14 branch
• a supported release – 14.0-RELEASE on the releng/14.0 branch.

FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE is recommended for new installations.

Adapted from the timelines at https://codeberg.org/FreeBSD/freebsd-src/src/commit/8c630381b43cc4d83c99305df3f732b0583ff8f2/share/misc/bsd-family-tree#L417-L453: | | | | | FreeBSD | | 11.4 | | | FreeBSD | 12.2 | | | `——. | | *–FreeBSD | | 13.0 | | | | | | FreeBSD | | 12.3 | | | | FreeBSD | | 13.1 | | | | | | FreeBSD | | 12.4 | | | FreeBSD | 13.2 | | | `——. | | *–FreeBSD | | 14.0 | | | | FreeBSD | 13.3 | FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT

• FreeBSD 11.4-RELEASE and 12.4-RELEASE are dead (no longer supported)
• FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE will die on 30th June 2024
• FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE is alive
• FreeBSD 14.0-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
• stable/14
• releng/14.0
• 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