FreeBSD Glossary
List of common terms and definitions that are used within the FreeBSD project, community and by its members.
Contents
- FreeBSD Glossary
- ABI -- Application Binary Interface
- Base
- CFT -- Call For Testing
- CURRENT
- EN -- Errata Notice
- EXP-RUN -- Experimental Run
- Linuxulator
- Local
- LOR -- Lock Order Reversal
- MFC -- Merge From Current
- MFH -- Merge From Head
- MFV -- Merge From Vendor
- Package
- Phabricator
- Ports
- Poudriere
- PR -- Problem Report
- Quarterly
- Releng -- Release Engineering
- SA -- Security Advisory
- STABLE
ABI -- Application Binary Interface
Acronym: Application Binary Interface.
ABI compatibility is maintained (not changed) within FreeBSD major versions.
Base
The "base" FreeBSD operating system – kernel and world. Everything that comes from and lives in the src repository 1
See Also: Local
CFT -- Call For Testing
Acronym: Call For Testing.
A call to action for the community to test something. Used on mailing lists, IRC, forums, Twitter and other communication channels.
CURRENT
Name given to the version of base in the src repository main branch. 2
Example: 14-CURRENT
Also known as: head, main
EN -- Errata Notice
Acronym: Errata Notice
Published notices that include patches, workarounds and other information about important bug or regression fixes for X.Y-RELEASE version of FreeBSD. Fixes are MFC'd to FreeBSD releng/x.y code branches.
See Also:
EXP-RUN -- Experimental Run
Acronym: Experimental Run
A test build of all ports run by portmgr using a specific proposed changeset or patch(es). Used to QA changes with large potential for regression/impact.
Linuxulator
Linux compatibility layer in base that can run unmodified (native) Linux binaries.
Also known as: lemul (Linux Emulation).
More Information: Linuxulator
Local
Everything that is installed separately, in addition to or after, and that is not, Base. In a nutshell, Ports and Packages. FreeBSD has a fairly strict separation of Base and Local, with base installed in / and Local installed (by default) in /usr/local, also known as LOCALBASE.
LOR -- Lock Order Reversal
Acronym: Lock Order Reversal.
See: LockOrderReversal
MFC -- Merge From Current
Acronym: Merge From Current.
Merging or back-porting a base commit from CURRENT (main/base/HEAD) to another, usually lower, FreeBSD version branch. Can be seen in commit log messages.
Example: MFC: After 2 weeks
See Also: CURRENT
MFH -- Merge From Head
Acronym: Merge From HEAD.
Merging or back-porting Ports commits from HEAD (main) to another (usually quarterly branch). Can be seen in commit log messages.
Example: MFH: 2020Q4
MFV -- Merge From Vendor
Acronym: Merge From Vendor.
Merging code from an external, upstream vendor repository into FreeBSD. Usually done with software that lives in src: contrib
Package
A "pre-built" port containing compiled (binary) software artifacts, executables, libraries and documentation, usually in tbz or txz archives. Analogous to Debian 'packages'. These are the things you get (from package repositories) when you pkg install <package name>.
Phabricator
Project code review system, used for discussion and review of proposed changes to repositories. Sometimes referred to as Phab.
More Information: Phabricator
Ports
Recipes for automatically building and installing third-party software. Binary packages are produced from ports. Ports are analogous to Debian source packages.
Ports can be obtained and updated via portsnap or git
More Information: Ports
Poudriere
Tool for creating packages and testing ports.
See also: Poudriere GitHub Repository
PR -- Problem Report
Acronym: Problem Report.
An issue/bug report in Bugzilla. Seen in commit log messages to refer to an issue being worked on or resolved. When referenced in a commit log message, that commit log message is added to the issue as a comment.
Example: PR: 346543
More Information: Bugzilla
Acronym: Pull Request.
Example: https://github.com/freebsd/drm-kmod/pulls
Quarterly
Ports repository branches created every 3 months (quarterly).
See Also: Ports/QuarterlyBranch
Releng -- Release Engineering
Acronym: Release Engineering.
Refers to base release code branches. Release branches receive important bugfixes (via Errata Notices) and security fixes (via Security Advisories).
Example: releng/13.1 the release branch for FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE.
SA -- Security Advisory
Acronym: Security Advisory
Published notifications for security vulnerabilities and fixes that include patches, workarounds, and other information for X.Y-RELEASE version of FreeBSD. Fixes are MFC'd to FreeBSD releng/x.y code branches.
See Also:
STABLE
Version label given to FreeBSD (src) major versions in stable/* repository branches.
Means: A stable ABI within that branch, not the common or dictionary stability meaning.
Examples: 13-STABLE (Code branch: stable/13)
See Also:
This was the base SVN repository, before git (1)
This was the HEAD branch of base in SVN, before git (2)