Editing Portal:FreeBSD,OpenBSD,etc (section)

=== FreeBSD 5.0 and the post-base Perl model ===

FreeBSD 5.0 formalized the change. The FreeBSD 5.0 release notes state that Perl had been removed from the FreeBSD base system and could be installed from the Ports Collection, as a binary package, or through the Perl distribution item in sysinstall.<ref>FreeBSD Project, “FreeBSD 5.0-RELEASE Release Notes,” https://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.0R/relnotes-alpha/, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

The release notes also explain the purpose of the change: moving Perl out of the base system would make future upgrades and maintenance easier. To reduce the base system’s dependence on Perl, many utilities were rewritten as shell scripts or C programs.<ref>FreeBSD Project, “FreeBSD 5.0-RELEASE Release Notes,” https://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.0R/relnotes-alpha/, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

The same release notes mention two historically significant details. First, Perl script removal work was still ongoing. Second, most distribution sets included the new Perl distribution, so the change would be transparent to many users, except that Perl would now be upgraded separately from the base system.<ref>FreeBSD Project, “FreeBSD 5.0-RELEASE Release Notes,” https://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.0R/relnotes-alpha/, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>

This created the modern FreeBSD model: the base operating system does not depend on Perl, but Perl remains readily available as an add-on package or port.