Version of current FreeBSD

version of current FreeBSDAuthor: I_like_cpp

Because FreeBSD is very concerned about the performance and stability of the system, the development of FreeBSD is very active and very open. Therefore, in the system development support several versions of the FreeBSD system parallel development, some versions to provide a most stable operating system, others gradually merged into a variety of new features, so that FreeBSD continuous development. The main FreeBSD currently used have three branch versions:

Freebsd2.2.x-stable: This branch is the FreeBSD version that is used on most Internet servers on the Internet, and has the characteristics of high stability through countless practical verification. But since the 3.0 version has been officially released, FreeBSD developers have decided in January 1999 to stop the development of this version, the FreeBSD version of the branch into the maintenance state, will be only to fix some of the possible system vulnerabilities and other work. Therefore, unless it is an existing FreeBSD system, or for special purposes to use some special software based on 2.2.x development, the newly installed FreeBSD system should use the freebsd-3.x version. The last officially released CD version of this series is FreeBSD 2.2.8-release.

Freebsd3.x-stable: This version of the first official version of 3.0-release, it was officially released in October 1998, then became a stable version. Compared with 2.2, it adds support for many new hardware and further improves performance. The current latest version is FreeBSD 3.5-release.

The Freebsd4.x-stable:freebsd 4.x version further improves the performance of the kernel and adds a number of new features, such as increased Ipv6 and IPSec support. The current latest release is 4.5-release. This version should be used for installing a new FreeBSD system.

FREEBSD5.0-CURRENT:FREEBSD 5 will improve the support for multiprocessor, threading support capabilities, so that the FreeBSD system in high-end server to play a greater advantage. FreeBSD 5.0 is currently in the development phase and there are no official releases, which require the Internet to obtain source code for installation.

As you can see, the version of FreeBSD is decorated with the current or stable suffix, where the stable-modified version is a stable version, not the latest version of FreeBSD, which is primarily concerned with the performance of the system and the continuity of its use, The next version of the same stable branch is primarily a revision of system issues, so the stable branch is popular with many business users. Current indicates that this version is a developing version, immature, and that it is more concerned with the new features, each of which is being tried by the developer to join the FreeBSD, but does not guarantee that future releases will support all of the features, and that some features will be immature or unhelpful to most users, It may be removed from the official version even if it has been added. Often FreeBSD enthusiasts and developers use this branch, or those who require new features of some FreeBSD, must use this branch.

FreeBSD chooses current and stable to decorate FreeBSD not only because FreeBSD is a constantly evolving, updated system, but also as a system that is involved in developing and using Internet Exchange development work by users on the Internet. This is different from commercial software, the development of commercial software within the company, outside the external access to the development of the version, can not be developed for the software to comment and make recommendations. FreeBSD, on the other hand, has access to FreeBSD's source code through the Internet, and FreeBSD developers to encourage others to access the source programs currently under development, encourage suggestions and carry out their own FreeBSD development plans, if that plan is really good, The developer can then be invited into the FreeBSD development team, and his plan can be merged into the formal FreeBSD development. However, if a system is always in the process of continuous development, without a stable version, it is obviously detrimental to the ordinary users who want to use FreeBSD in the day-to-day business processing tasks. So FreeBSD coexists with two simultaneous versions, the stable version is a stable version, the equivalent of the external release version of the commercial software, and the current version is the version being developed. When a current version is stable enough, this version is converted to the stable version, and the FreeBSD development team moves on to the next current version of the development effort.

In addition to current and stable, there are two additional suffixes that are used to modify the FreeBSD version of the binary release. One is release, such as FreeBSD 3.0-release, which indicates that this is an officially released FreeBSD version, but this version can be in either the current branch or the stable branch. But if a FreeBSD's current branch publishes a release version, it will indicate that it is not far from entering the stable state, and the version will not actually make much of a change, and is a fully usable, stable FreeBSD version. Another suffix is snapshot, such as FreeBSD 4.0-snapshot, which indicates that this is a preview version that is used by FreeBSD enthusiasts to view the current development status of the present branch ahead of time and try new features. FreeBSD disc distributions are often decorated with these two words.

So for FreeBSD users, you need to choose a different version depending on the situation. For formal use, you should choose the stable version, and for the study, research, and development FreeBSD, you might consider using the current version.