pfSense » pfSense Plus

Currently when a new pfSense release comes out pkg updates the repo files immediately so that the current stable release is the repo that is used. We offer the ability to "switch" to legacy repos so that users can install packages, but this causes a lot of confusion when a new major release comes out and users from the previous branch can no longer install packages. Additionally, sometimes we update pkg or push system packages that break pkg in the background resulting in support cases being opened.

Proposed changes to align with how other operating systems handle updates:
1. Change the update system to not rely on update notifications from pkg checks, but instead from a different source file
2. Have the repos remain on whatever major branch release it's on
3. When a user initiates an upgrade THEN switch the repo files to make the upgrade happen

This would allow users to still get notified that an update is available without silently bricking their pkg and pkg database when something goes wrong with upgrading pkg or changing the repos.