[Bug 273017] FreeBSD 12.4-RELEASE is misrepresented as production quality

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=273017

--- Comment #3 from Graham Perrin ◐ <grahamperrin@gmail.com> ---
Created attachment 243980
  --> https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/attachment.cgi?id=243980&action=edit
Screenshot: 12.4-RELEASE no longer production at the FreeBSD Project home page

:-)

(In reply to Li-Wen Hsu from comment #2)

By recent definition, with reference to the home page of the FreeBSD Project
(the result of the linked review): 

- 12.4 is no longer production

– screenshot attached. 


Issues arising, with regard to RELEASE versions of FreeBSD:

A) whether production always means production quality

B) at present, no widespread shared understanding of what's meant by legacy

C) looking ahead, what happens when legacy disappears

D) the summary line here.


Thoughts
========


Question A) 

This should be easiest to answer. I'm fairly certain that production does
(always) mean production quality, because, amongst other things,
<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/commit/5c8cc20333c4e87dd5d3a562ad87f5c18254d5fd>
added a relevant heading, and was approved by Glen Barber. 

Side note: whilst pages such as <https://www.freebsd.org/where/> do not
properly distinguish between heading levels (bug 271477), alternative views
such as
<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/website/content/en/where.adoc#production-quality>
may help to visualise things. 


Issue B)

Colin Percival, author of the originally linked review comment, is a
participant in related <https://old.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/15l74km/-/>. 

There's at least one other discussion. IMHO it's too soon to bring anything
like a conclusion to Bugzilla. 

Additional parallel discussion might take place on a mail list – let's keep
noise, here, to a minimum. 


Issue C)

When the word 'legacy' disappears – entirely – from key areas such as the home
page and the download page(†), readers are left with no hint of its meaning.
It's: 

* missing from answers to frequently asked questions

* not mentioned at <https://www.freebsd.org/security/>, which expresses 
  support for releases – some of which are not RELEASE

* not suitably explained in the FreeBSD Handbook – the sole mention is 
  partly with reference to stable/11 (this can be fixed quickly and 
  non-contentiously in a separate BR (not here, please))

* … and so on. 


----

(†) The word is not yet apparent in the sidebar. Its absence is the essence of
comment 0.

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