hello everyone 
EDIT found a begining of an answer but 5+ years old… see end of post
the main takeaway seems to be:
in *BSD the os is not part of the package management.
I’ve ordered a machine, xeon based.
I plan to install FreeBSD on it. This will be my first foray into BSD.
I am a gnu-linux afficionado. reading docs/man is my hobby.
The current machineS i’m daily driving are archlinux, with everything manualy configured nicely. The updating process is one command (yay -Syu) followed by a reboot if the kernel was updated.
The new machine will :
- host a ZFS vdev that will be my nas through nfs
- route/firewall my local network to internet
- dlna server to my lan
- have a vnc server (an app I use a lot needs X, but i wanna access it remotely, using vnc is the most practical for me)
I am desperately hoping that all my needs will be available through the freeBSD package manager, and that pkg_add will allow me to have everything I require. (meaning I cross my fingers i won’t have to build anything from source, because such things are a pain to maintain - or are they?).
The motherboard is very proprietary and undocumented (qnap) but I’m fairly confident I will not need a custom kernel.
I have read the handbook chapter called cutting-edge (on maintaining a system up to date , and security updates)
In archlinux, using the package manager yay, i can with one command update the core component of the system (kernel, default librairies and stuff) and the packages that i have chosen to install (x.org, xfce, firefox, etc).
in FreeBSD using
# freebsd-update fetch
# freebsd-update install
seems to do the trick,
QUESTION2 (the bonus question)
Please confirm this will also fetch/install updates to stuff i have installed using the pkg_add command? (if not, is there a pkg_update command or something along those lines)
QUESTION1
stable/current
I know the pros and cons when using debian or archlinux, but i’m fuzzy on the specifics for FreeBSD.
I wanna go stable, as i don’t need bleeding edge (headless box, once configured I will probably rarely ssh into it to do stuff _ other then maintenance _ except that old app running in the vncserver)
BUT
do the security updates apply to stable? or do i need to be on current to get them asap?
i would welcome some clarification from one of you, from the pov of the user, if thou have the time.
(the process of upgrading to a new minor or major version is done using the same command, so I’m assuming that your answer will apply in those cases as well)
thank you for reading, have a nice day!
EDIT
begining of an answer, although 5+ years old:
it discuss the various relase schemes and updates, from a desktop standpoint, but is valid within the context of my question.
any addedenum you guys may have would be welcome.