[Bug 266111] FAQ: minor corrections and improvements, and notes ahead of a holistic rewrite

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=266111

--- Comment #8 from Graham Perrin <grahamperrin@freebsd.org> ---
Why are there two stable branches?
----------------------------------

I can't see a simple, coherent explanation in any of the following: 

* <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/faq/>
* <https://www.freebsd.org/releng/>
* <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/freebsd-releng/>

<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#19-what-is-the-freebsd-stable-concept>
begins as if there's only one stable branch.

<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#173-what-are-snapshots-and-releases>
mentions four branches then lists only three, two of which are stable. 

This part of
<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#17-what-is-the-latest-version-of-freebsd>
may be _partly_ true: 

> … 12.X branch will … receive only fixes for major problems, such as 
> security-related fixes. …

It's sometimes perceived that supported releases from the older stable branch
will be "more stable" (or words to that effect) than supported releases from
the newer stable branch. 

For what it's worth, I should avoid use of words such as 'stability' to
distinguish between releases from stable branches. The word means different
things to different people. 


Historical
==========

2014, two points in time. 

<https://web.archive.org/web/20140711192017/http://www.freebsd.org/where.html> 

* three branches
* three production releases, including 8.4, two of which were legacy. 

<https://web.archive.org/web/20140718195756/http://www.freebsd.org/where.html> 

* three branches
* three production releases, including 8.4, _none_ of which were legacy.

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