[kevans91]

> [...] But if you use pkg, and the new point release added a syscall, you will have problems installing new packages (or upgrading) once the package builders update; I don't quite remember the timeline, but it's usually a few months after the point release. [...]

The previous release in the branch gets dropped after ~3 months, probably aligned to the end of the month that its EOL lands in; then pkg builders switch to the newer release in the branch.