How would you like to spend minimal time setting up your workstation or laptop, and most of it doing creative work? This is the design goal of desktop-installer, and FreeBSD helps make it possible. The core purpose of desktop-installer is to help you quickly and easily create the most reliable and secure desktop system available, so you can spend your time on productive work rather than tedious systems management.
The "Valuable News" weekly series provides summaries of news and articles primarily related to UNIX/BSD/Linux systems. It aims to filter out essential information from the overwhelming amount of data available online. This edition includes various updates on UNIX systems, hardware news, and other related topics.
The article discusses the Google Summer of Code 2024 project focused on enhancing NetBSD's kernel test framework for root device and file system selection. The author, Diviyam Pat, shares their experience working on this project, including initial interactions with NetBSD and the technical details of the tests developed. The project aims to improve the coverage of ATF tests for the setroot function, which is crucial for root device selection during the boot process.
The pkgsrc developers have released the 85th quarterly update of pkgsrc, a cross-platform packaging system. This release includes over 28,000 packages with support across 23 operating systems. Notable additions include MinGW-w64, OpenSMTPD Tables, Python 3.13, Ruby On Rails 7.2.2.1, and Thunderbird 115. Significant updates include matrix-synapse, pkgin, and pkglint. The infrastructure now supports mktool for improved performance. Users can access pkgsrc via CVS, tar files, and other mirrors.
The article highlights significant BSD developments in 2024, including FreeBSD's collaboration with AMD, the release of NetBSD 10.0, and other notable updates from FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and DragonFlyBSD. Key points include FreeBSD's work on Rust integration, NetBSD's X.Org/X11 status, and helloSystem's new experimental build. Additionally, the article mentions various releases and improvements across different BSD projects, such as OpenBSD 7.5 and 7.6, and FreeBSD 14.1.
The article discusses the process of running NetBSD on an IBM ThinkPad 380Z, a vintage laptop from 1998. The author details the steps taken to upgrade the hardware, connect to a network, and boot the NetBSD installer. They also cover the installation process, enabling the framebuffer, saving RAM, and setting up various software components like WireGuard, the X server, and a window manager. The article highlights the smooth performance and stability of NetBSD on this older hardware, making it a valuable resource for BSD enthusiasts interested in reviving vintage machines for modern use. The author concludes by praising NetBSD's lightweight and efficient design, suggesting it as an ideal OS for underpowered or spare machines.
The episode covers the release of FreeBSD 14.2, highlighting key features and improvements. Additionally, it discusses ZFS storage fault management, the persistence of NAT with IPv6, spell checking in Vim, and OpenBSD memory conflict messages. The show also includes a segment on the biggest shell programs in the world.
Because thanks to some recent developments, it's possible to get NetBSD working on this thing and it's the latest version too.
The HardenedBSD December 2024 Status Report outlines key developments and updates. This month saw significant progress, including research on mitigating SROP, collaboration on BATMAN-adv mesh networking, and various security enhancements. Notable changes include defaulting to PIE on all architectures, disabling remote connections for syslogd, and updates to the ports tree. The report also highlights upcoming infrastructure updates and expresses gratitude for community contributions.
The FreeBSD Foundation is proud of its accomplishments in 2024. They launched ambitious projects, grew partnerships and improved their internal infrastructure. All of this success is thanks to the support of donors and the FreeBSD community.
Here are author's notes on running NetBSD 10.1 on their first personal laptop that they still keep, a 1998 i586 Toshiba Satellite Pro with 81Mb of RAM and a 1Gb IBM 2.5" IDE HD. In summary, the latest NetBSD runs well on this old hardware using an IDE to CF adapter and several changes to the i386 GENERIC kernel.
smolBSD is a tiny BSD UNIX (NetBSD) system creation tool, primarily aimed at building modern, lightweight, fast micro VMs. smolBSD can start a service in (way) under a second, giving it the ability to be used as a virtualized container, thus reducing attack surface and actually isolating workflows.
In this special episode, they are interviewing themselves with the questions that out audience asked us many moons ago. Stay tuned for some insights about hobbies, all things computers, projects, and a whole lot more.
The FreeBSD Foundation proudly supports numerous initiatives aimed at advancing the FreeBSD operating system. With contributions from the Foundation and the community, 2024 has been a year of significant developments in security, performance, and usability. Article has a detailed overview of the projects completed or in progress this year.