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 History
 #######
 
-VyOS is a Linux-based network operating system that provides software-based
-network routing, firewall, and VPN functionality.
-
-The VyOS project was started in late 2013 as a community fork of the
-`GPL <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License>`_ portions of
-Vyatta Core 6.6R1 with the goal of maintaining a free and open source network
-operating system in response to the decision to discontinue the community
-edition of Vyatta. Here everyone loves learning, older managers and new users.
-
-VyOS is primarily based on `Debian GNU/Linux <https://www.debian.org/>`_ and
-the `Quagga <http://www.nongnu.org/quagga/>`_ routing engine. Its configuration
-syntax and :ref:`cli` are loosely derived from Juniper JUNOS as modelled by the
-`XORP project <http://www.xorp.org/>`_, which was the original routing engine
-for Vyatta.
-
-In the 4.0 release of Vyatta, the routing engine was changed to Quagga. As of
-VyOS version 1.2, VyOS now uses `FRRouting <https://frrouting.org/>`_ as the
-routing engine.
-
-How is VyOS different from any other router distributions and platform?
-
-- It's more than just a firewall and VPN, VyOS includes extended routing
-  capabilities like OSPFv2, OSPFv3, BGP, VRRP, and extensive route policy
-  mapping and filtering
-- Unified command line interface in the style of hardware routers.
-- Scriptable CLI
-- Stateful configuration system: prepare changes and commit at once or discard,
-  view previous revisions or rollback to them, archive revisions to remote
-  server and execute hooks at commit time
-- Image-based upgrade: keep multiple versions on the same system and revert to
-  previous image if a problem arises
-- Multiple VPN capabilities: OpenVPN, IPSec, Wireguard, DPMVPN, IKEv2 and more
-- DHCP, TFTP, mDNS repeater, broadcast relay and DNS forwarding support
-- Both IPv4 and IPv6 support
-- Runs on physical and virtual platforms alike: small x86 boards, big servers,
-  KVM, Xen, VMware, Hyper-V, and more
-- Completely free and open source, with documented internal APIs and build
-  procedures
-- Community driven. Patches are welcome and all code, bugs, and nightly builds
-  are publicly accessible
+In the beginning...
+===================
 
+There once was a network operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux,
+called Vyatta. [*]_ 2006 onwards, it was a great free software
+alternative to Cisco IOS and Jupiter JUNOS. It came in two editions:
+Vyatta Core (previously Vyatta Community Edition) that was completely
+free software, and Vyatta Subscription Edition that had proprietary
+features and was only available to paying customers. [*]_
+
+Vyatta was acquired by Brocade Communication Systems in 2012. Shortly
+after, Brocade renamed Vyatta Subscription Edition to Brocade vRouter,
+discontinued Vyatta Core and shut down the community forum without a
+notice. The bug tracker and Git repositories followed next year.
+
+It's worth noting that by the time Brocade acquired Vyatta,
+development of Vyatta Core was already stagnated. Vyatta Subscription
+Edition (and thus, Vyatta development as a whole) had been replacing
+core components with proprietary software, meaning few features made
+it to Vyatta Core, and those that did were bug-ridden and hamstrung.
+
+In 2013, soon after Vyatta Core was abandoned, the community forked
+the last Vyatta Core version (6.6R1) and VyOS Project came into being.
+`Sentrium SL <https://blog.vyos.io/sentrium-what-sentrium>`_ was
+established by VyOS maintainers in 2014 to fund VyOS development by
+selling support, consulting services and prebuilt long-term support
+images.
+
+Brocade was acquired by Broadcom in 2016 and sold what remains of
+erstwhile Vyatta to AT&T in 2017, who in turn sold it to Ciena in 2021.
+
+
+Major releases
+==============
+
+VyOS major versions used to be named after elements in order of atomic
+numbers. With 1.2, this naming scheme was replaced with the much
+cooler scheme of Latin names of IAU designated constellations by solid
+angle area, starting from the smallest.
+
+Hydrogen (1.0)
+--------------
+
+Released just in time for holidays in 22 December 2013, Hydrogen was
+the first major VyOS release. It fixed features that were broken in
+Vyatta Core 6.6 (such as IPv4 BGP peer groups and DHCPv6 relay) and
+introduced command scripting, a task scheduler and web proxy LDAP
+authentication.
+
+Helium (1.1)
+------------
+
+Helium was released in 9 October 2014, exactly on the day VyOS Project
+first came into being in the previous year. Helium came with a lot of
+new features, including an event handler and support for L2TPv3,
+802.1ad QinQ and IGMP proxy, as well as experimental support for VXLAN
+and DMVPN (the latter of which was also broken in Vyatta Core due to
+its reliance on a proprietary NHRP implementation).
+
+Crux (1.2)
+----------
+
+Crux (the Southern Cross) came out in 28 January 2019 and was the
+first major release of VyOS as we know it today. The underlying
+Debian base was upgraded from Squeeze (6) to Jessie (8).
+
+Although Crux came with too many new features to mention here, some
+noteworthy ones are: an mDNS repeater, a broadcast relay,
+a high-performance PPPoE server, an HFSC scheduler, as well as support
+for Wireguard, unicast VRRP, RPKI for BGP and fully 802.1ad-compliant
+QinQ ethertype. The telnet server and support for P2P filtering were
+removed.
+
+Crux is the first version to feature the modular image build system.
+CLI definitions began to be written in the modern, verifiable XML
+templates. Python APIs were introduced for command scripting and
+configuration migration. Introduction of new Perl and shell code was
+proscribed and the rewriting of legacy Perl code in pure Python began
+with Crux.
+
+As of 2022, Crux is still supported and maintained.
+
+Equuleus (1.3)
+--------------
+
+The current long-term support version of VyOS, Equuleus (the Pony)
+came out in 21 December 2021, once again in time for the winter
+holidays.
+
+Equuleus brought many long-desired features with it, most notably
+an SSTP VPN server, an IPoE server, an OpenConnect VPN server and
+a serial console server, in addition to reworked support for WWAN
+interfaces, support for GENEVE and MACSec interfaces, VRF, IS-IS
+routing, preliminary support for MPLS and LDP, and many other
+initialisms.
+
+As of 2022, Equuleus is in the stable.
+
+Sagitta (1.4)
+-------------
+
+Sagitta (the Arrow) is the codename of the current development
+branch, so there's no VyOS 1.4 yet.
+
+A note on copyright
+===================
+
+Unlike Vyatta, VyOS never had (nor will ever have) proprietary code.
+The only proprietary material in VyOS is non-code assets, such as
+graphics and the term "VyOS". [*]_ This means you can build your own
+long-term support images (as the entire toolchain we use is free
+software) and even distribute them, given you rename it and remove
+such assets before building. Although note that we do not provide
+support for images distributed by a third-party. See the
+`artwork license <https://github.com/vyos/vyos-build/blob/current/LICENSE.artwork>`_
+and the end-user license agreement at `/usr/share/doc/vyos/EULA` in any
+pre-built image for more precise information.
+
+
+.. [*] From the Sanskrit adjective "Vyātta" (व्यात्त), meaning opened.
+.. [*] A business model comparable to that of Redis, rather than that
+       of VyOS today.
+.. [*] This is not unlike how Linus Torvalds owns copyright of the
+       term "Linux".