FreeBSD Operating System Decides to Shorten Support Lifecycle from 5 Years to 4 Years to Ensure Stable Maintenance

The open-source operating system FreeBSD has, since July 2024, embarked on discussions to shorten its version support lifecycle. Following these discussions, it has now been confirmed that the support period will be reduced from the current 5 years to 4 years.

Typically, a reduction in the support period might seem like unwelcome news, as users, especially corporate ones, prefer longer support cycles to minimize the frequency of upgrades.

However, FreeBSD has its reasons for this change, aiming to lessen the number of concurrently maintained release branches to ensure the stable upkeep of actively updated versions. The reality is that the porting team struggles to manage more than two stable branches at a time, making a 4-year support cycle more practical than one of 5 years.

Starting with FreeBSD 15.x versions, the support lifecycle for stable branches will be shortened from 5 years to 4 years. Concurrently, FreeBSD is working on establishing a predictable version release schedule to facilitate users in planning their upgrade strategies more effectively.

The upcoming FreeBSD release and support termination schedule is as follows (note that these are planned dates and may change due to various factors):

• FreeBSD 13.3: Released in March 2024, support to end in December 2024
• FreeBSD 14.1: Released in June 2024, support to end in March 2025
• FreeBSD 13.4: Released in September 2024, support to end in June 2025
• FreeBSD 14.2: Planned for December 2024, support to end in September 2025
• FreeBSD 13.5: Planned for March 2025, support to end in April 2026 *¹
• FreeBSD 14.3: Planned for June 2025, support to end in June 2026
• FreeBSD 15.0: Planned for December 2025, support to end in September 2026
• FreeBSD 14.4: Planned for March 2026, support to end in December 2026
• FreeBSD 15.1: Planned for June 2026, support to end in March 2027
• FreeBSD 14.5: Planned for September 2026, support to end in June 2027
• FreeBSD 15.2: Planned for December 2026, support to end in September 2027
• FreeBSD 14.6: Planned for March 2027, support to end in November 2028 *²
• FreeBSD 15.3: Planned for June 2027, support to end in June 2028
• FreeBSD 16.0: Planned for December 2027, support to end in September 2028
• FreeBSD 15.4: Planned for March 2028, support to end in December 2028
• FreeBSD 16.1: Planned for June 2028, support to end in March 2029
• FreeBSD 15.5: Planned for September 2028, support to end in June 2029
• FreeBSD 16.2: Planned for December 2028, support to end in September 2029
• FreeBSD 15.6: Planned for March 2029, support to end in December 2029
• FreeBSD 16.3: Planned for June 2029, support to end in June 2030
• FreeBSD 17.0: Planned for December 2029, support to end in September 2030

Note 1: FreeBSD 13.5 will receive support within 5 years after the release of FreeBSD 13.0

Note 2: FreeBSD 14.6 will receive support within 5 years after the release of FreeBSD 14.0