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  &header;

  <p>This page contains documentation about the FreeBSD release
    engineering process.</p>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="#schedule">Upcoming Release Schedule</a></li>
    <li><a href="#freeze">Code Freeze Status</a></li>
    <li><a href="&base;/releng/charter.html">Charter for the Release
	Engineering Team</a></li>
    <li><a href="#docs">Release Engineering Documentation</a></li>
    <li><a href="#team">Current Release Engineering Team</a></li>
    <li><a href="#faq">Frequently Asked Questions</a></li>

    <!--
    <li>General information about committing to -STABLE.</li>
    -->
  </ul>

  <h2><a name="schedule" id="schedule">Upcoming Release Schedule</a></h2>

  <p>NOTE: Release dates are approximate and may be subject to
    schedule slippage.</p>

  <table class="tblbasic">
    <tr>
      <th>Date</th>
      <th>Event</th>
      <th>Information</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>August 2012</td>
      <td>&os; 9.1</td>
      <td><a href="&base;/releases/9.1R/schedule.html">Target Schedule</a></td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <h2><a name="freeze" id="freeze">Code-Freeze Status</a></h2>

  <p>The following table lists the code freeze status for the major
    branches of the <tt>src/</tt> 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 <tt>ports/</tt>, <tt>doc/</tt>,
    and <tt>www/</tt> is also provided below.</p>

  <table class="tblbasic">
    <tr>
      <th>Branch</th>
      <th>Status</th>
      <th>Contact</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>HEAD</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Active development branch for 10-CURRENT.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>stable/9</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Development branch for FreeBSD 9-STABLE.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>releng/9.0</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 9.0 supported errata fix branch.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_8</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Development branch for 8-STABLE.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_8_3</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 8.3 supported errata fix branch.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_8_2</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 8.2 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_8_1</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 8.1 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_8_0</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 8.0 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Development branch for 7-STABLE.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7_4</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 7.4 supported errata fix branch.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7_3</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 7.3 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7_2</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 7.2 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7_1</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 7.1 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_7_0</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 7.0 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Maintenance branch for 6-STABLE (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6_4</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 6.4 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6_3</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 6.3 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6_2</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 6.2 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6_1</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 6.1 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_6_0</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 6.0 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Maintenance branch for 5-STABLE (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_5</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.5 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_4</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.4 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_3</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.3 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_2</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.2 / 5.2.1 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_1</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.1 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_5_0</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 5.0 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Maintenance branch for 4-STABLE (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_11</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.11 errata fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_10</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.10 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_9</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.9 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_8</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.8 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_7</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.7 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_6</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.6 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_5</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.5 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_4</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.4 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_4_3</tt></td>
      <td>Frozen</td>
      <td>&contact.so;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD 4.3 security fix branch (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_3</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Maintenance branch for 3-STABLE (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>RELENG_2_2</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>committers</td>
      <td>Maintenance branch for 2.2-STABLE (not officially supported).</td>
    </tr>

    <tr class="heading">
      <th>Subtree</th>
      <th>Status</th>
      <th>Contact</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>ports/</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>&contact.portmgr;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD Ports Collection.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>doc/</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>&contact.doc;</td>
      <td>SGML/XML based documentation set.</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td><tt>www/</tt></td>
      <td>Open</td>
      <td>&contact.www;</td>
      <td>FreeBSD Web site sources.</td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <h2><a name="docs" id="docs">Release Engineering Documentation</a></h2>

  <ul>
    <li><p><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/releng/index.html">FreeBSD
	  Release Engineering</a><br>

	  <small>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.</small></p></li>

    <li><p><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/releng-packages/index.html">FreeBSD
	  Release Engineering for Third Party Packages</a><br>

	  <small>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.</small></p></li>

    <li><p><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/5-roadmap/index.html">FreeBSD
	  5-STABLE Roadmap</a><br>

	  <small>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.</small></p></li>

    <li><p><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/version-guide/index.html">Choosing
	  the FreeBSD Version That Is Right For You</a><br>

	  <small>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.</small></p></li>
  </ul>

  <h2><a name="team" id="team">Release Engineering Team</a></h2>

  <p>The primary release engineering team is responsible for approving
    <a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/freebsd-glossary.html#MFC-GLOSSARY">MFC</a>
    requests during code freezes, setting release schedules, and all of
    the other responsibilities laid out in our <a
      href="&base;/releng/charter.html">charter</a>.</p>

  <p><strong>Primary RE Team
      (<a href="mailto:re@FreeBSD.org">re@FreeBSD.org</a>)</strong> :
	&a.re.members; form the primary release engineering
	decision-making group.</p>

  <p>The builders release engineering team is responsible
    for building and packaging FreeBSD releases on the various supported
    platforms.</p>

  <p><strong>Builders REs (<a
	href="mailto:re-builders@FreeBSD.org">re-builders@FreeBSD.org</a>)</strong> :
    &a.re-builders;</p>

  <p>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.</p>

  <p><strong>Package Builders (&contact.portmgr;)</strong> :
    &a.portmgr;</p>

  <h2><a name="faq" id="faq">Frequently Asked Questions</a></h2>

  <p>Where can I find the release directory or ISO images for older
    FreeBSD releases?</p>

  <p>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 <a
    href="ftp://ftp-archive.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/">
    ftp://ftp-archive.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/</a>.
    Second, try looking on <a
    href="http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org">http://mirrorlist.FreeBSD.org</a>.
    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.</p>

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