This document summarizes the key differences between BSD and Linux operating systems. It explains that BSD began as patches to Unix from UC Berkeley and later forked into multiple projects with different focuses, like FreeBSD for stability and NetBSD for portability. It outlines differences in features like device naming, startup processes, and configuration files compared to Linux. The document also discusses advantages of BSD's integrated release engineering model and highlights unique BSD features like jails, packages, and security tools.

1. BSD For Linux Users
Dru Lavigne
Community Manager, PC-BSD Project
OCLUG, December 7, 2010

2. This presentation will cover...
What exactly is BSD?
How is it different from Linux?
Does release engineering matter?
Any features unique to BSD?
Additional Resources

3. What exactly is BSD?

4. aka What exactly is
Linux?

5. kernel?

6. distro?

7. What is BSD?
Began as a series of patches and
contributed applications for Unix from the
University of Berkeley
Forked into several projects when Berkeley
stopped working on BSD
Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix: From AT&T-
Owned to Freely Redistributable
http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/
book/kirkmck.html

8. What is BSD?
Projects originally differentiated by focus:
NetBSD: clean design and portability (57
supported platforms)
FreeBSD: production server stability and
application support (22,431 apps)
OpenBSD: security and dependable
release cycle
Dragonfly BSD: filesystem architecture
PC-BSD: anyone can install and use BSD

9. How is BSD different
from Linux?

11. Gnome on Ubuntu

12. KDE on PC-BSD

13. device names

14. startup (no runlevels)

15. one config file philosophy

16. kernel configuration

17. consistent layout (man hier)

18. BSD vs GNU switches

19. working examples

20. Release Engineering?

21. Release Engineering
Complete operating system, not kernel +
distro: one source for security advisories,
less likelihood of incompatible libraries
Integration of features not limited by
copyleft: e.g. drivers and features are built-
in
High “bus factor”
Consistent separation between operating
system and third party and between BSD
and GPL'd code

22. Release Engineering
● commit bit indicates write permission to
code repository
● FreeBSD 446 commit bits
● NetBSD 264 commit bits
● OpenBSD 132 commit bits
● plus thousands of contributors for
software, docs, translations, bug fixes, etc
● Linux has 1 committer, 638 maintainers

23. Release Engineering
Principles used by the BSD projects reflect
their academic roots:
● well defined process for earning a
“commit bit” includes a period of working
under a mentor
● code repository from Day 1 and can
trace original code back to CSRG days
● no “leader”, instead well defined release
engineering, security, and doc teams

24. Release Engineering
● development occurs on CURRENT which is
frozen in preparation for a RELEASE
● nightly builds (operating system and
apps) help ensure that upgrades and
installs don't result in library
incompatibilities (safe for production)
● documentation considered as important
as code

25. Features unique to
BSD?

26. securelevels

27. FreeBSD jails

28. NetBSD build.sh

29. pkgsrc

30. PC-BSD PBIs

31. VuXML and portaudit
or pkg_admin audit
for pkgsrc systems

32. NetBSD veriexec

33. binary emulation

34. FreeBSD netgraph

35. ZFS support

36. FreeBSD dtrace suport

37. CARP

38. FreeBSD superpages

39. OpenBSM

40. FreeBSD snapshots

41. ALTQ

42. DragonFly HAMMER

43. Automated Testing Framework

44. Non-GPLd Toolchain

45. Additional Resources
How the FreeBSD Project Works
http://2007.asiabsdcon.org/papers/
P08-slides.pdf
FreeBSD Development
http://www.freebsd.org/projects/index.html
The NetBSD Way
http://www.fosslc.org/drupal/content/
netbsd-way-0
NetBSD Development
http://www.netbsd.org/developers/

46. Questions?
http://www.slideshare.net
/dlavigne/oclug-2010
dru@freebsd.org