Latest update: FreeBSD 13.5 with many fixes and without KDE Plasma 5

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With the new FreeBSD 13.5, the developers have fixed many annoying bugs. As this is the last update for the FreeBSD 13 branch, there are mainly bug fixes, but no extensive new features. With the native hypervisor Bhyve, problems have been fixed that could be caused by the NVMe driver, the HDA audio driver and emulated USB devices on the virtualized USB controller (XHCI). Of interest to networkers and sponsored by the FreeBSD Foundation, several bugs in the perennial problem child OpenSSH as well as libpcap and tcpdump have been fixed.

Network: Less CPU load, lower latency

There are improvements for various Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet adapters. After long and rather mediocre attempts, an optimization called Adaptive Interrupt Moderation (AIM) has been (re-)implemented – sponsored by Rubicon Communications LLC/Netgate. The dynamic adaptation of the interrupt rate depending on the data traffic that occurs reduces both the CPU load for high data volumes and the latency for low data rates. Background information on AIM is explained in detail in an Intel paper on "Interrupt Moderation", for example. At the same time, SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) support has been tidied up. The ix(4) driver (Intel 10Gb Ethernet) has also received a number of detailed updates.

New additions include support for Purism Coreboot keyboards and Brainboxes USB-to-serial adapters. The code for USB-to-Ethernet adapters based on Realtek 8156/8156B chips moves from cdce(4) to ure(4), affected systems require a change in /etc/rc.conf.

Decluttering: No more AGP and shar(1)!

The adjustments for the UFS1 file system (UNIX File System) are quite extensive in order to raise the maximum usable date for files and directories from January 19, 2038 (Y2K38 problem) to February 7, 2106 at 06:28:15 UTC.

If anyone is still running a 32-bit machine with an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) graphics card, FreeBSD 15 at the latest will put an end to this, as the agp(4) driver will be removed. The fact that shar(1), which can be used to create an archive from a directory tree in the form of a shell script, will also be removed is unlikely to bother anyone due to a lack of knowledge of this ancient tool.

No more KDE? Not quite true!

The fact that the KDE desktop environment can no longer be installed with FreeBSD 13.5 is only partially true. The KDE Plasma 5 packages have merely been removed from the DVD ISO image, as its current size would exceed the 4.7 GB limit. In addition, the adaptation of KDE Plasma 6 to FreeBSD is almost complete, so that version 5 will be replaced by KDE Plasma 6 in both the "latest" and the FreeBSD-typical "quarterly" branches (2025Q1 ends in two weeks). In addition, problems with KDE and OpenSSL 1.1.1 have not yet been completely resolved.

Speaking of KDE: Jonathan Riddell, a long-time KDE developer who was responsible for managing the Plasma versions, developing the KDE operating system Neon and as the former person responsible for the release of Kubuntu, among other things, has announced that he will be stepping down from these roles. The rumor mill is buzzing, as Riddell's resignation coincides with the transfer of KDE development from Blue Systems (Germany) to Techpaladan Software in the USA.

Last update for FreeBSD 13

The FreeBSD 13 branch (stable/13) is expected to receive its last update with the release of FreeBSD 13.5-RELEASE. Under the new support model, developers will continue to support FreeBSD 13 with security updates for a total of five years, until April 2026 (EoL). FreeBSD 14.2 is currently available, with version 15 scheduled for release in December this year.

FreeBSD 13.5 is available as the current "legacy" version on the FreeBSD project page and supports a variety of architectures: amd64, i386, aarch64, armv6, armv7, powerpc, powerpc64, powerpc64le, powerpcspe and riscv64.

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