QuarterlyBranch [FreeBSD WIKI]

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===== Quarterly Branch Ports and Packages =====

===== Definition =====

**//quarterly//** is the familiar name for:

  * [[/Ports|ports]] branched from ''%%main%%'' at the beginning of every January, April, July, and October
  * the binary package sets that are produced from the most recent quarterly branch. 

Each quarterly branch is named according to the year (YYYY) and quarter (Q1-4) of its creation.

===== Purpose =====

A user experience (UX), for port and package installations and upgrades, that is more **predictable and stable** than the UX for the more dynamic ''%%main%%'' branch (familiarly: //latest//).

In essence, changes are limited to:

  * **non-feature** updates.

quarterly is the default for %%FreeBSD%%-RELEASE versions 10.2-RELEASE and later.

===== Governance =====

[[/portmgr|Ports Management Team]] (portmgr)

===== Aims =====

Receive, on a best effort basis, merge (''%%cherry-pick -x%%'') commits including, but not limited to:

  * Security fixes (that may be version updates, or backports of commits)
  * Build, run, packaging, or other bug fixes
  * Ports compliance/framework changes.

More precisely:

  * Any change that is **not** a version update – **unless** it is a security update – that, other than the intended change, makes no //functional// change to the resulting package or software.

Merges from ''%%main%%'' are limited to the most recent quarterly. Prior branches are not supported; no merges.

===== Examples =====

The **2023Q4** branch was created in October 2023.

Its commit history can be browsed at:

  * https://cgit.freebsd.org/ports/log/?h=2023Q4
  * https://codeberg.org/FreeBSD/freebsd-ports/commits/branch/2023Q4
  * https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-ports/commits/2023Q4
  * [[https://gitlab.com/FreeBSD/freebsd-ports/-/commits/2023Q4/|https://gitlab.com/FreeBSD/freebsd-ports/-/commits/2023Q4/]].

In Bugzilla:

  * [[https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_status=__open__&component=Individual+Port(s)&f1=flagtypes.name&o1=allwordssubstr&order=Bug+Number&product=Ports+%26+Packages&query_format=advanced&v1=merge-quarterly+%3F|open reports that request, or intend, a merge to quarterly]].

===== How to switch from quarterly to latest =====

On a system where ''%%/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf%%'' does not yet exist:

  - ''%%mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos%%''
  - ''%%echo "FreeBSD: { url: "pkg+http://pkg.freebsd.org/\${ABI}/latest" }" > /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf%%''
  - ''%%pkg upgrade -f%%'' to install packages from latest (relatively time-consuming), or ''%%pkg update%%'' to update the catalogue alone.

Hint: if your system supports ZFS boot environments, create one before the upgrade.

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