freebsd security - Mar 2004 - Security Officer-supported branches update

The FreeBSD Security Officer would normally be sending out this email,
but he's a bit busy right now and it is clear from reactions to FreeBSD
Security Advisory FreeBSD-SA-04:04.tcp that many people are unaware of
the current status of the RELENG_5_1 branch, so I'm going to send out
this reminder myself.

The branches supported by the FreeBSD Security Officer have been
updated to reflect the recent EoL (end-of-life) of FreeBSD 5.1.  The
new list is below and at <URL: http://www.freebsd.org/security/ >.

If you are running FreeBSD 4.7 or older, or FreeBSD 5.0 or 5.1, and
you wish to be certain to get critical bug fixes, it is recommended
that you upgrade to one of the newer security branches.

[Excerpt from http://www.freebsd.org/security/]

FreeBSD Security Advisories

   The FreeBSD Security Officer provides security advisories for
   several branches of FreeBSD development. These are the -STABLE
   Branches and the Security Branches. (Advisories are not issued for
   the -CURRENT Branch.)

     * There is usually only a single -STABLE branch, although during
       the transition from one major development line to another
       (such as from FreeBSD 4.x to 5.x), there is a time span in
       which there are two -STABLE branches. The -STABLE branch tags
       have names like RELENG_4. The corresponding builds have names
       like FreeBSD 4.6-STABLE.

     * Each FreeBSD Release has an associated Security Branch. The
       Security Branch tags have names like RELENG_4_6. The
       corresponding builds have names like FreeBSD 4.6-RELEASE-p7.

   Each branch is supported by the Security Officer for a limited
   time only, typically through 12 months after the release. The
   estimated lifetimes of the currently supported branches are given
   below. The Estimated EoL (end-of-life) column gives the earliest
   date on which that branch is likely to be dropped. Please note
   that these dates may be extended into the future, but only
   extenuating circumstances would lead to a branch's support being
   dropped earlier than the date listed.

   +------------------------------------------+
   |  Branch  |   Release   |  Estimated EoL  |
   |----------+-------------+-----------------|
   |RELENG_4  |n/a          |October 31, 2004 |
   |----------+-------------+-----------------|
   |RELENG_4_8|4.8-RELEASE  |March 31, 2004   |
   |----------+-------------+-----------------|
   |RELENG_4_9|4.9-RELEASE  |October 31, 2004 |
   |----------+-------------+-----------------|
   |RELENG_5_2|5.2.1-RELEASE|July 31, 2004    |
   +------------------------------------------+

   Older releases are not maintained and users are strongly
   encouraged to upgrade to one of the supported releases mentioned
   above.

Colin Percival (wearing member-of-secteam hat)

Colin Percival <cperciva@freebsd.org> writes:
>    +------------------------------------------+
>    |  Branch  |   Release   |  Estimated EoL  |
>    |----------+-------------+-----------------|
>    |RELENG_4  |n/a          |October 31, 2004 |
>    +------------------------------------------+
The actual EoL for RELENG_4 will be much later than that: at least one
year, possibly a year and a half, after the release of 4.10, which is
due this spring / early summer.

DES
-- 
Dag-Erling Sm?rgrav - des@des.no

At 11:12 05/03/2004, Dag-Erling Sm?rgrav wrote:
>Colin Percival <cperciva@freebsd.org> writes:
> >    +------------------------------------------+
> >    |  Branch  |   Release   |  Estimated EoL  |
> >    |----------+-------------+-----------------|
> >    |RELENG_4  |n/a          |October 31, 2004 |
> >    +------------------------------------------+
>
>The actual EoL for RELENG_4 will be much later than that: at least one
>year, possibly a year and a half, after the release of 4.10, which is
>due this spring / early summer.
   Of course: As the page says, "Please note that these dates
may be extended into the future". ;-)

Colin Percival