Next Release 8.2 and 8.3

[rhdinah]

Reading this URL: http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Test_Upcoming_Versions

Mentions:

>> "Version 8.3 is expected to be released shortly after 8.2-RELEASE, once the underlying FreeBSD 8.3 operating system has been released (expected April, 2012)."

However FreeBSD 9.0 is already a production release. What bearing does this have on the above quote? Does that mean that 8.3 will be using FreeBSD 8.3 or 9.0? If 9.0 does this mean that FreeNAS 8.3 will be renamed 9.0 and released within the same shortly timeframe? And if so should the above wiki link be updated?

Thanks!

 

[James]

8.3 is also a production release (for those who don't install "dot zero" releases). It most likely will be the last production release in the FreeBSD 8.x series. This page also explains the underlying FreeBSD releases used in FreeNAS: http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Introduction.

 

[jgreco]

FreeBSD has a proud history of vaguely problematic "dot zero" releases. Some of us have found it very much less stressful to avoid young major versions and instead stick with the older (or even legacy) releases, which may mean we don't have access to all the latest features, but also avoid any unanticipated latest bugs. In some cases, a major version is not worth the time and hassle at all. For example, I don't think we ever deployed a FreeBSD 5 box in a serious production environment, and FreeBSD 6 had some kernel panic quirks... a lot of our production gear skipped from FreeBSD 4.11 to FreeBSD 7.2. Then we had some 7.3 stuff, and jumped to 8.2 after that. We're still ironing a few quirks out of 8.3 but will be moving lots of production to that now.

admin's statement about 8.3 being the last likely production release of FreeBSD 8 is possible, but omits the extremely important undertone that regardless of further releases, FreeBSD 8 is almost certainly going to remain a supported production release for at least another year. Whether or not a FreeBSD 8.4 pops out is primarily a function of whether or not there's new stuff available to warrant it. Either way, the point is that FreeBSD 8 remains viable for quite some time.

FreeBSD 8.* is a nearly three year old release series, and as such is relatively stable and reliable. FreeBSD 9.0 has not really proven itself yet, and so there are some of us who would prefer to see development support both, where possible, for at least long enough for FreeNAS to get to be built on FreeBSD 9.1 or even better FreeBSD 9.2 while also supporting FreeBSD 8 as a stable legacy platform. I'm guessing we won't get quite that lucky, since the FreeNAS crew is relatively small and has limited resources. On the positive side, FreeNAS exercises specific things within FreeBSD very heavily while not touching other areas at all, so it is possible that a suitably stable FreeNAS 9 could appear sooner rather than later.