OpenBSD Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on November 14, 2024
OpenBSD is a Unix-like operating system primarily focused on security. It is open-source and free to use. It can be used across many different platforms, including Intel and ARM processes, as well as Raspberry Pi.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Active Support
Security Support
A newer version of OpenBSD is rolled out every 6 months. Two of the latest OpenBSD versions are supported at any given time. When a new version is released, the second-last release loses support.
OpenBSD support includes security and reliability fixes only. This is why OpenBSD is often perceived as the most secure operating system.
OpenBSD is offered in the following 3 flavors:
- -release: This is the flavor that is updated every 6 months.
- -current: This is the development branch. Every 6 months, the version from this flavor is tagged and becomes the next release.
- -stable: This flavor includes a regular release plus the patches found on the errata page. When very important fixes are made to the -current flavor, they are backported to the supported -stable branches.
EOLs