From owner-freebsd-current  Wed Feb  3 10:53:58 1999
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Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 13:53:28 -0500 (EST)
From: John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu>
To: HighWind Software Information <info@highwind.com>
cc: current@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: 3.0 vs 4.0
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On Wed, 3 Feb 1999, HighWind Software Information wrote:

> Can someone summarize the difference and locations between all these
> things?

Think of it as a tree where the trunk is -current and branches are
-stable.  There is only one -current but potentally many -stables. 
Each release with a new major version number creates a new branch. 
Old branches, starved for light, eventually wither and die.


	  current
	     |
	     |
	     |  stable
	     |    |
	     |   3.1
	     |    |
      stable |   /
	|    |  /
      2.2.8  | /
	|    |/ 
      2.2.7  | 3.0
	|    |
      2.2.6  |
	|    |
	 \   | 
      2.1 \  |
	   \ |
	    \|
	 2.0 |
	     |


2.2.8-release is (supposedly) the end of the line for the 2.2
branch of FreeBSD but critical bugs continue to be fixed and they
show up in the 2.2.8-stable branch.  You can get binary
"snapshots" of this branch to pick up the bug fixes, or you can
get the source and "make world" to get them.

Call 2.2.8-stable the "trailing edge".

3.0-stable is is the actively maintained stable branch from which the
next release (3.1) will come.  The primary activity on this--or any
stable branch--is bug fixes rather than new features, although new
features will appear over time.

Call 3.0-stable the "cutting edge".

There is only one -current at any given time and the version number
just indicates what the next major release will be.  Since there is
only one, it is usually just called "-current" and this is where
exciting new features and bugs are introduced to FreeBSD.

Call -current the "bleeding edge".

> Is it still true that "2.2.8" is the thing that folks get when they go
> to the www.freebsd.org website and grab the "the latest stable thing"?

Speaking only for myself, I'd say that is correct.  Once 3.1
comes out, then I would say 3.1 is "the latest stable thing".
I'm not sure that *any* dot zero release should be considered
stable.

-john


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