Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2021 09:23:13 -0400 From: Ed Maste <emaste@freebsd.org> To: FreeBSD Current <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>, freebsd-arm <freebsd-arm@freebsd.org>, freebsd-announce@freebsd.org Subject: FreeBSD/arm64 becoming Tier 1 in FreeBSD 13 Message-ID: <CAPyFy2DsYMnzxbF90wf=BtL-hB_tMXBDwjR1ZBV_n%2B7HZJW75w@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <CAPyFy2Ce%2BSwk-T-qEK9U91pDKLqkFh77ExapmiDtQthHidhNJQ@mail.gmail.com> References: <CAPyFy2Ce%2BSwk-T-qEK9U91pDKLqkFh77ExapmiDtQthHidhNJQ@mail.gmail.com>
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Summary FreeBSD will promote arm64 to a Tier 1 architecture in FreeBSD 13. This means we will provide release images, binary packages, and security and errata updates. While we anticipate there will be minor issues with this first release, we believe the port is mature enough that they can be resolved during the life of FreeBSD 13. Details Development efforts on FreeBSD/arm64 (also known as AArch64) started in 2014, with generous financial and technical support from Arm, Cavium and the FreeBSD Foundation. FreeBSD 11.0 arrived in October 2016 as the first release with support for the architecture. Improvements to the kernel, tool chain, userland, and ports and package infrastructure have been ongoing since that time, with improvements arriving in each minor and major release. The FreeBSD base system is ready for the promotion of arm64 to Tier 1, and the Release Engineering, Security, and Ports teams are prepared to support the Tier 1 requirements for arm64. Security updates via freebsd-update now include arm64 support (starting with the FreeBSD 13.0 release candidates). Required ports infrastructure is in place for arm64 and most ports build successfully. The project now has several Ampere eMAG systems acting as package build servers. These machines were obtained through a combination of FreeBSD Foundation purchases and generous donations from Ampere. To support port maintainers who do not have access to arm64 hardware we will be improving ports CI and testing resources (and this effort will benefit all architectures). We will also be suggesting one or more low-cost reference platforms for FreeBSD/arm64. The guarantees included in Tier 1 status are described in https://docs.freebsd.org/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/committers-guide/archs.ht= ml In particular, for Tier 1 architectures the project provides release images, binary package sets, and binary and source updates for Security Advisories and Errata Notices. The AArch64 ecosystem=E2=80=99s maturity ensures follow on generations of hardware. The diversity of offerings, as well as the multiple generations of hardware shows that the FreeBSD project will benefit from adding support for this platform. The growth trajectory suggests this will be a significant portion of the market in the coming years, and FreeBSD will benefit from tapping into this market with this Tier 1 platform. (on behalf of core)
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