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+(about)=
+
+# About
+
+VyOS is an open-source network operating system that provides a single unified
+CLI and API to manage routing protocols, firewall and NAT, QoS, load balancing,
+DHCP and DNS servers, and many other features.
+
+VyOS runs on a wide variety of commodity hardware, virtual machines, and
+multiple cloud environments.
+
+We provide a dedicated user guide for each major
+VyOS release that receives long-term support (LTS). We maintain multiple user
+guide versions, all hosted at <https://docs.vyos.io>.
+To switch between versions, select the appropriate version in the bottom-right
+corner.
+
+VyOS CLI syntax may vary between major and sometimes minor releases. Always
+refer to the documentation matching your current running installation. If
+a change in the CLI is required, VyOS provides a migration script to handle
+the syntax adjustments. No user action is required.
diff --git a/docs/introducing/history.md b/docs/introducing/history.md
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+---
+description: |-
+  Overview of the VyOS project's history, from its 2013 fork of Vyatta Core
+  through each major LTS release. Covers release codenames, base Debian
+  versions, and the headline features introduced in each version.
+keywords: |-
+  vyos history, vyatta fork, lts release, scutum, circinus, sagitta,
+  equuleus, crux, debian
+---
+
+(history)=
+
+# History
+
+## In the beginning...
+
+There was a network operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux, called
+Vyatta. [^footnote-1] Introduced in 2006, it served as a great free-software alternative
+to proprietary products. Vyatta came in two editions: Vyatta Core
+(formerly known as Vyatta Community Edition), which was free software, and
+Vyatta Subscription Edition, which included proprietary features and was
+available only to paying customers.
+
+Brocade Communications Systems acquired Vyatta in 2012. Shortly after, Brocade
+renamed Vyatta Subscription Edition to Brocade vRouter, discontinued Vyatta
+Core, and shut down the community forum without notice. The bug tracker and Git
+repositories were closed the following year.
+
+By the time Brocade acquired Vyatta, the development of Vyatta Core had
+already stagnated. The focus had shifted to Vyatta Subscription Edition,
+where core components were replaced with proprietary software. As a result,
+Vyatta Core received fewer new features, and some of those added faced issues.
+
+In 2013, shortly after Vyatta Core was discontinued, the community forked its
+final version (6.6R1) to create the VyOS project. In 2014, the maintainers
+established a company to fund VyOS development through technical support,
+consulting services, and LTS release access subscriptions. The company was
+originally named Sentrium and was later reorganized under the VyOS brand.
+
+## Major releases
+
+VyOS originally named its major versions after elements by atomic number.
+Beginning with version 1.2, this naming scheme was changed. It now uses the
+Latin names of constellations recognized by the International Astronomical
+Union ([IAU](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_designated_constellations_by_area)),
+ordered by their solid angle area, beginning with the smallest.
+
+### Hydrogen (1.0)
+
+Released just in time for the holidays on 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, released on 9 October 2014, marked the first anniversary of the
+VyOS Project. The release introduced an event handler, L2TPv3 support,
+802.1ad (QinQ), and IGMP proxy, as well as experimental support for VXLAN
+and DMVPN. Notably, DMVPN remained non-functional in Vyatta Core due to its
+reliance on a proprietary NHRP implementation.
+
+### Crux (1.2)
+
+Crux (the Southern Cross) was released on 28 January 2019 and marked a
+departure from legacy Vyatta codebase and the start of the migration from
+Perl to Python as the primary language. The underlying base system was
+upgraded from Debian 6 (Squeeze) to Debian 8 (Jessie).
+
+Crux introduced many new features, some of the most noteworthy are:
+an mDNS repeater, a broadcast relay, a high-performance PPPoE server,
+an HFSC scheduler, and 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 was the first VyOS release to feature a modular image build system.
+CLI definitions were written using an XML syntax automatically checked
+against a schema at build time. Python APIs were introduced for command
+scripting and configuration migration. New Perl code and old-style (non-XML)
+command definition were no longer accepted from that point.
+
+Crux reached the end of support in 2023.
+
+### Equuleus (1.3)
+
+Equuleus (the Little Horse) was a long-term support version released
+on 21 December 2021, just in time for the winter holidays.
+
+Equuleus brought many long-awaited features, most notably an SSTP VPN
+server, an IPoE server, an OpenConnect VPN server, and a serial console
+server. It also introduced reworked support for WWAN interfaces, support
+for GENEVE and MACSec interfaces, VRF, IS-IS routing, and preliminary support
+for MPLS and LDP.
+
+Equuleus reached the end of support in 2025.
+
+### Sagitta (1.4)
+
+Sagitta (the Arrow), the current LTS release, became generally available on
+4 June 2024. Its development began in late 2021 and focused on eliminating
+remaining legacy components and reworking core subsystems.
+
+The transition to XML-defined command definitions and script refactoring with
+separate verify, update, and apply stages were completed. The firewall
+subsystem was rebuilt on nftables, introducing interface-independent rulesets
+and the reimplemented zone-based firewall model. The PKI subsystem was
+redesigned to manage cryptographic material directly within the configuration
+file.
+
+Sagitta introduced rollback without reboot, support for Babel and PIM6 routing
+protocols, failover routes, segment routing, NAT64, an IKEv2 remote-access VPN
+server, Zabbix monitoring, HTTP load balancing, and configuration
+synchronization using the HTTP API.
+
+The underlying base system was upgraded to Debian 12 (Bookworm).
+
+### Circinus (1.5)
+
+Circinus (the Drawing Compass) became generally available as an LTS release on
+31 March 2026. Its development began in 2024 and focused on major performance
+upgrades and modernizing core subsystems.
+
+Circinus introduces several major architectural improvements, most notably an
+optional VPP-based accelerated dataplane. Using the DPDK driver, this dataplane
+can offer performance up to 15x faster than the Linux kernel dataplane and
+allows administrators to selectively enable hardware acceleration on a
+per-interface and per-feature basis.
+
+Other significant additions and updates include:
+
+- A high-performance kernel-mode NetFlow sensor based on ipt-netflow,
+  replacing the older pmacct implementation.
+- Unification of sFlow to exclusively use the much faster hsflowd
+  implementation.
+- Transition of the DHCP server to a Kea-based implementation, replacing the
+  legacy, end-of-life ISC DHCPD.
+- A completely rewritten WAN load balancing implementation to resolve
+  long-standing stability issues and introduce support for firewall groups in
+  load balancing rules.
+- A new `execute` operational mode command family to separate action commands
+  that do not depend on or modify system configuration.
+
+The release also cleans up several legacy and underutilized components.
+FastNetMon was removed, OpenVPN support for Blowfish and Twofish ciphers was
+dropped for security reasons, and the Salt minion integration was deprecated.
+
+Like Sagitta (1.4), the underlying base system for Circinus remains Debian 12
+(Bookworm).
+
+### Scutum (1.6)
+
+Scutum (the Shield) is the codename for the upcoming development
+branch. VyOS 1.6 Scutum has not been released yet.
+
+## A note on copyright
+
+Unlike Vyatta, VyOS has never had closed-source code and never will.
+The only proprietary material in VyOS is non-code assets, such as
+graphics and the trademark "VyOS". [^footnote-2]
+
+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/vyos/EULA` in
+any pre-built image for more information.
+
+[^footnote-1]: From the Sanskrit adjective "Vyātta" (व्यात्त), meaning opened.
+
+[^footnote-2]: This is similar to how Linus Torvalds owns the Linux trademark.
+
diff --git a/docs/introducing/about.rst b/docs/introducing/rst-about.rst
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