Introduction [FreeBSD WIKI]

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====== Chapter 1 - An introduction to FreeBSD ======

===== Synopsis (1.1) =====

Thank you for your interest in %%FreeBSD%%!

The following chapter covers various aspects of the %%FreeBSD%% Project, such as its history, goals, development model, and so on.

After reading this chapter, you will know:

  * How %%FreeBSD%% relates to other computer operating systems.
  * The history of the %%FreeBSD%% Project.
  * The goals of the %%FreeBSD%% Project.
  * The basics of the %%FreeBSD%% open-source development model.
  * And of course: where the name “%%FreeBSD%%” comes from.

===== Welcome to FreeBSD (1.2) =====

%%FreeBSD%% is a 4.4BSD-Lite based operating system for Intel (x86 and Itanium®), AMD64, ARM®, and Sun %%UltraSPARC%%® computers. Ports to other architectures are also under way. You can also read about the history of %%FreeBSD%%, or the current release. If you are interested in contributing something to the Project (code, hardware, funding), see the Contributing to %%FreeBSD%% article.

==== What Can FreeBSD Do? (1.2.1) ====

%%FreeBSD%% has many noteworthy features. Some of these are:

  * Preemptive multitasking with dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing of the computer between applications and users, even under the heaviest of loads. Multi-user facilities which allow many people to use a %%FreeBSD%% system simultaneously for a variety of things. This means, for example, that system peripherals such as printers and tape drives are properly shared between all users on the system or the network and that individual resource limits can be placed on users or groups of users, protecting critical system resources from over-use.
  * Strong TCP/IP networking with support for industry standards such as SCTP, DHCP, NFS, NIS, PPP, SLIP, IPsec, and IPv6. This means that your %%FreeBSD%% machine can interoperate easily with other systems as well as act as an enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS (remote file access) and email services or putting your organization on the Internet with WWW, FTP, routing and firewall (security) services.
  * Memory protection ensures that applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other. One application crashing will not affect others in any way.
  * The industry standard X Window System ([[/X11R7|X11R7]]) can provide a graphical user interface (GUI) on any machine and comes with full sources.
  * Binary compatibility with many programs built for Linux, SCO, SVR4, BSDI and %%NetBSD%%.
  * Thousands of ready-to-run applications are available from the %%FreeBSD%% ports and packages collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right here?
  * Thousands of additional and easy-to-port applications are available on the Internet. %%FreeBSD%% is source code compatible with most popular commercial UNIX® systems and thus most applications require few, if any, changes to compile.
  * Demand paged virtual memory and “merged VM/buffer cache” design efficiently satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining interactive response to other users.
  * SMP support for machines with multiple CPUs.
  * A full complement of C and C++ development tools. Many additional languages for advanced research and development are also available in the ports and packages collection.
  * Source code for the entire system means you have the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be locked into a proprietary solution at the mercy of your vendor when you can have a truly open system?
  * Extensive online documentation.
  * And many more!

%%FreeBSD%% is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite release from Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD systems development. In addition to the fine work provided by CSRG, the %%FreeBSD%% Project has put in many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for maximum performance and reliability in real-life load situations. %%FreeBSD%% offers performance and reliability on par with commercial offerings, combined with many cutting-edge features not available anywhere else.

The applications to which %%FreeBSD%% can be put are truly limited only by your own imagination. From software development to factory automation, inventory control to azimuth correction of remote satellite antennae; if it can be done with a commercial UNIX® product then it is more than likely that you can do it with %%FreeBSD%% too! %%FreeBSD%% also benefits significantly from literally thousands of high quality applications developed by research centers and universities around the world, often available at little to no cost. Commercial applications are also available and appearing in greater numbers every day.

Because the source code for %%FreeBSD%% itself is generally available, the system can also be customized to an almost unheard of degree for special applications or projects, and in ways not generally possible with operating systems from most major commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of some of the applications in which people are currently using %%FreeBSD%%:

  * Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP networking built into %%FreeBSD%% makes it an ideal platform for a variety of Internet services such as:
    * World Wide Web servers (standard or secure [SSL])
    * IPv4 and IPv6 routing
    * Firewalls and NAT (“IP masquerading”) gateways
    * FTP servers
    * Electronic Mail servers
    * And more...

  * Education: Are you a student of computer science or a related engineering field? There is no better way of learning about operating systems, computer architecture and networking than the hands on, under the hood experience that %%FreeBSD%% can provide. A number of freely available CAD, mathematical and graphic design packages also make it highly useful to those whose primary interest in a computer is to get other work done!
  * Research: With source code for the entire system available, %%FreeBSD%% is an excellent platform for research in operating systems as well as other branches of computer science. %%FreeBSD%%'s freely available nature also makes it possible for remote groups to collaborate on ideas or shared development without having to worry about special licensing agreements or limitations on what may be discussed in open forums.
Networking: Need a new router? A name server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal network? %%FreeBSD%% can easily turn that unused PC sitting in the corner into an advanced router with sophisticated packet-filtering capabilities.
  * Embedded: %%FreeBSD%% makes an excellent platform to build embedded systems upon. With support for the ARM®, MIPS® and %%PowerPC%%® platforms, coupled with a robust network stack, cutting edge features and the permissive BSD license %%FreeBSD%% makes an excellent foundation for building embedded routers, firewalls, and other devices.
  * Desktop: %%FreeBSD%% makes a fine choice for an inexpensive desktop solution using the freely available X11 server. %%FreeBSD%% offers a choice from many open-source desktop environments, including the standard GNOME and KDE graphical user interfaces. %%FreeBSD%% can even boot “diskless” from a central server, making individual workstations even cheaper and easier to administer.
Software Development: The basic %%FreeBSD%% system comes with a full complement of development tools including a full C/C++ compiler and debugger suite. Support for many other languages are also available through the ports and packages collection.

%%FreeBSD%% is available to download free of charge, or can be obtained on either CD-ROM or DVD. Please see Appendix A, Obtaining %%FreeBSD%% for more information about obtaining %%FreeBSD%%.

===== Who Uses FreeBSD? (1.2.2) =====

%%FreeBSD%%'s advanced features, proven security, predictable release cycle, and permissive license have led to its use as a platform for building many commercial and open source appliances, devices, and products. Many of the world's largest IT companies use %%FreeBSD%%:

  * Apache - The Apache Software Foundation runs most of its public facing infrastructure, including possibly one of the largest SVN repositories in the world with over 1.4 million commits, on %%FreeBSD%%.
  * Apple - OS X borrows heavily from %%FreeBSD%% for the network stack, virtual file system, and many userland components. Apple iOS also contains elements borrowed from %%FreeBSD%%.
  * Cisco - [[/IronPort|IronPort]] network security and anti-spam appliances run a modified %%FreeBSD%% kernel.
  * Citrix - The [[/NetScaler|NetScaler]] line of security appliances provide layer 4-7 load balancing, content caching, application firewall, secure VPN, and mobile cloud network access, along with the power of a %%FreeBSD%% shell.
  * Dell KACE - The KACE system management appliances run %%FreeBSD%% because of its reliability, scalability, and the community that supports its continued development.
  * Experts Exchange - All public facing web servers are powered by %%FreeBSD%% and they make extensive use of jails to isolate development and testing environments without the overhead of virtualization.
  * Isilon - Isilon's enterprise storage appliances are based on %%FreeBSD%%. The extremely liberal %%FreeBSD%% license allowed Isilon to integrate their intellectual property throughout the kernel and focus on building their product instead of an operating system.
  * iXsystems - The %%TrueNAS%% line of unified storage appliances is based on %%FreeBSD%%. In addition to their commercial products, iXsystems also manages development of the open source projects %%TrueOS%% and %%FreeNAS%%.
  * Juniper - The %%JunOS%% operating system that powers all Juniper networking gear (including routers, switches, security, and networking appliances) is based on %%FreeBSD%%. Juniper is one of many vendors that showcases the symbiotic relationship between the project and vendors of commercial products. Improvements generated at Juniper are upstreamed into %%FreeBSD%% to reduce the complexity of integrating new features from %%FreeBSD%% back into %%JunOS%% in the future.
  * [[/McAfee|McAfee]] - %%SecurOS%%, the basis of [[/McAfee|McAfee]] enterprise firewall products including Sidewinder is based on %%FreeBSD%%.
  * [[/NetApp|NetApp]] - The Data ONTAP GX line of storage appliances are based on %%FreeBSD%%. In addition, [[/NetApp|NetApp]] has contributed back many features, including the new BSD licensed hypervisor, bhyve.
  * Netflix - The [[/OpenConnect|OpenConnect]] appliance that Netflix uses to stream movies to its customers is based on %%FreeBSD%%. Netflix has made extensive contributions to the codebase and works to maintain a zero delta from mainline %%FreeBSD%%. Netflix [[/OpenConnect|OpenConnect]] appliances are responsible for delivering more than 32% of all Internet traffic in North America.
  * Sandvine - Sandvine uses %%FreeBSD%% as the basis of their high performance real-time network processing platforms that make up their intelligent network policy control products.
  * Sony - The [[/PlayStation|PlayStation]] 4 gaming console runs a modified version of %%FreeBSD%%.
  * Sophos - The Sophos Email Appliance product is based on a hardened %%FreeBSD%% and scans inbound mail for spam and viruses, while also monitoring outbound mail for malware as well as the accidental loss of sensitive information.
  * Spectra Logic - The nTier line of archive grade storage appliances run %%FreeBSD%% and %%OpenZFS%%.
  * Stormshield - Stormshield Network Security appliances are based on a hardened version of %%FreeBSD%%. The BSD license allows them to integrate their own intellectual property with the system while returning a great deal of interesting development to the community.
  * The Weather Channel - The [[/IntelliStar|IntelliStar]] appliance that is installed at each local cable provider's headend and is responsible for injecting local weather forecasts into the cable TV network's programming runs %%FreeBSD%%.
  * Verisign - Verisign is responsible for operating the .com and .net root domain registries as well as the accompanying DNS infrastructure. They rely on a number of different network operating systems including %%FreeBSD%% to ensure there is no common point of failure in their infrastructure.
  * Voxer - Voxer powers their mobile voice messaging platform with ZFS on %%FreeBSD%%. Voxer switched from a Solaris derivative to %%FreeBSD%% because of its superior documentation, larger and more active community, and more developer friendly environment. In addition to critical features like ZFS and DTrace, %%FreeBSD%% also offers TRIM support for ZFS.
  * %%WhatsApp%% - When %%WhatsApp%% needed a platform that would be able to handle more than 1 million concurrent TCP connections per server, they chose %%FreeBSD%%. They then proceeded to scale past 2.5 million connections per server.
Wheel Systems - The FUDO security appliance allows enterprises to monitor, control, record, and audit contractors and administrators who work on their systems. Based on all of the best security features of %%FreeBSD%% including ZFS, GELI, Capsicum, HAST, and auditdistd.

%%FreeBSD%% has also spawned a number of related open source projects:

  * BSD Router - A %%FreeBSD%% based replacement for large enterprise routers designed to run on standard PC hardware.
  * %%FreeNAS%% - A customized %%FreeBSD%% designed to be used as a network file server appliance. Provides a python based web interface to simplify the management of both the UFS and ZFS file systems. Includes support for NFS, SMB/CIFS, AFP, FTP, and iSCSI. Includes an extensible plugin system based on %%FreeBSD%% jails.
  * %%GhostBSD%% - A desktop oriented distribution of %%FreeBSD%% bundled with the Gnome desktop environment.
  * mfsBSD - A toolkit for building a %%FreeBSD%% system image that runs entirely from memory.
  * NAS4Free - A file server distribution based on %%FreeBSD%% with a PHP powered web interface.
  * OPNSense - OPNsense is an open source, easy-to-use and easy-to-build %%FreeBSD%% based firewall and routing platform. OPNsense includes most of the features available in expensive commercial firewalls, and more in many cases. It brings the rich feature set of commercial offerings with the benefits of open and verifiable sources.
  * %%TrueOS%% - A customized version of %%FreeBSD%% geared towards desktop users with graphical utilities to exposing the power of %%FreeBSD%% to all users. Designed to ease the transition of Windows and OS X users.
  * pfSense - A firewall distribution based on %%FreeBSD%% with a huge array of features and extensive IPv6 support.
  * ZRouter - An open source alternative firmware for embedded devices based on %%FreeBSD%%. Designed to replace the proprietary firmware on off-the-shelf routers.

%%FreeBSD%% is also used to power some of the biggest sites on the Internet, including:

  * Yahoo!
  * Yandex
  * Rambler
  * Sina
  * Pair Networks
  * Sony Japan
  * Netcraft
  * Netflix
  * [[/NetEase|NetEase]]
  * Weathernews
  * TELEHOUSE America
  * and many more. Wikipedia also maintains a list of products based on %%FreeBSD%%.

===== About the FreeBSD Project (1.3) =====

The following section provides some background information on the project, including a brief history, project goals, and the development model of the project.

==== A Brief History of FreeBSD (1.3.1) ====

The %%FreeBSD%% Project had its genesis in the early part of 1993, partially as an outgrowth of the Unofficial 386BSDPatchkit by the patchkit's last 3 coordinators: Nate Williams, Rod Grimes and Jordan Hubbard.

The original goal was to produce an intermediate snapshot of 386BSD in order to fix a number of problems with it that the patchkit mechanism just was not capable of solving. The early working title for the project was 386BSD 0.5 or 386BSD Interim in reference of that fact.

386BSD was Bill Jolitz's operating system, which had been up to that point suffering rather severely from almost a year's worth of neglect. As the patchkit swelled ever more uncomfortably with each passing day, they decided to assist Bill by providing this interim “cleanup” snapshot. Those plans came to a rude halt when Bill Jolitz suddenly decided to withdraw his sanction from the project without any clear indication of what would be done instead.

The trio thought that the goal remained worthwhile, even without Bill's support, and so they adopted the name "%%FreeBSD%%" coined by David Greenman. The initial objectives were set after consulting with the system's current users and, once it became clear that the project was on the road to perhaps even becoming a reality, Jordan contacted Walnut Creek CDROM with an eye toward improving %%FreeBSD%%'s distribution channels for those many unfortunates without easy access to the Internet. Walnut Creek CDROM not only supported the idea of distributing %%FreeBSD%% on CD but also went so far as to provide the project with a machine to work on and a fast Internet connection. Without Walnut Creek CDROM's almost unprecedented degree of faith in what was, at the time, a completely unknown project, it is quite unlikely that %%FreeBSD%% would have gotten as far, as fast, as it has today.

The first CD-ROM (and general net-wide) distribution was %%FreeBSD%% 1.0, released in December of 1993. This was based on the 4.3BSD-Lite (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components also provided by 386BSD and the Free Software Foundation. It was a fairly reasonable success for a first offering, and they followed it with the highly successful %%FreeBSD%% 1.1 release in May of 1994.

Around this time, some rather unexpected storm clouds formed on the horizon as Novell and U.C. Berkeley settled their long-running lawsuit over the legal status of the Berkeley Net/2 tape. A condition of that settlement was U.C. Berkeley's concession that large parts of Net/2 were “encumbered” code and the property of Novell, who had in turn acquired it from AT&T some time previously. What Berkeley got in return was Novell's “blessing” that the 4.4BSD-Lite release, when it was finally released, would be declared unencumbered and all existing Net/2 users would be strongly encouraged to switch. This included %%FreeBSD%%, and the project was given until the end of July 1994 to stop shipping its own Net/2 based product. Under the terms of that agreement, the project was allowed one last release before the deadline, that release being %%FreeBSD%% 1.1.5.1.

%%FreeBSD%% then set about the arduous task of literally re-inventing itself from a completely new and rather incomplete set of 4.4BSD-Lite bits. The “Lite” releases were light in part because Berkeley's CSRG had removed large chunks of code required for actually constructing a bootable running system (due to various legal requirements) and the fact that the Intel port of 4.4 was highly incomplete. It took the project until November of 1994 to make this transition, and in December it released %%FreeBSD%% 2.0 to the world. Despite being still more than a little rough around the edges, the release was a significant success and was followed by the more robust and easier to install %%FreeBSD%% 2.0.5 release in June of 1995.

Since that time, %%FreeBSD%% has made a series of releases each time improving the stability, speed, and feature set of the previous version.
For now, long-term development projects continue to take place in the 10.X-CURRENT (trunk) branch, and snapshot releases of 10.X are continually made available from the snapshot server as work progresses.

==== FreeBSD Project Goals (1.3.2) ====

Contributed by Jordan Hubbard.

The goals of the %%FreeBSD%% Project are to provide software that may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. Many of us have a significant investment in the code (and project) and would certainly not mind a little financial compensation now and then, but we are definitely not prepared to insist on it. We believe that our first and foremost “mission” is to provide code to any and all comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the widest possible use and provides the widest possible benefit. This is, I believe, one of the most fundamental goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically support.

That code in our source tree which falls under the GNU General Public License (GPL) or Library General Public License (LGPL) comes with slightly more strings attached, though at least on the side of enforced access rather than the usual opposite. Due to the additional complexities that can evolve in the commercial use of GPL software we do, however, prefer software submitted under the more relaxed BSD copyright when it is a reasonable option to do so.

==== The FreeBSD Development Model (1.3.3) ====

Contributed by Satoshi Asami.

The development of %%FreeBSD%% is a very open and flexible process, being literally built from the contributions of thousands of people around the world, as can be seen from our list of contributors. %%FreeBSD%%'s development infrastructure allow these thousands of contributors to collaborate over the Internet. We are constantly on the lookout for new developers and ideas, and those interested in becoming more closely involved with the project need simply contact us at the %%FreeBSD%% technical discussions mailing list. The %%FreeBSD%% announcements mailing list is also available to those wishing to make other %%FreeBSD%% users aware of major areas of work.

Useful things to know about the %%FreeBSD%% Project and its development process, whether working independently or in close cooperation:

**The SVN repositories**

For several years, the central source tree for %%FreeBSD%% was maintained by CVS (Concurrent Versions System), a freely available source code control tool. In June 2008, the Project switched to using SVN (Subversion). The switch was deemed
necessary, as the technical limitations imposed by CVS were becoming obvious due to the rapid expansion of the source tree and the amount of history already stored. The Documentation Project and Ports Collection repositories also moved
from CVS to SVN in May 2012 and July 2012, respectively. Please refer to the Synchronizing your source tree section for more information on obtaining the %%FreeBSD%% src/ repository and Using the Ports Collection for details on obtaining
the %%FreeBSD%% Ports Collection.

**The committers list**

The committers are the people who have write access to the Subversion tree, and are authorized to make modifications to the %%FreeBSD%% source (the term “committer” comes from commit, the source control command which is used to bring new
changes into the repository). Anyone can submit a bug to the Bug Database. Before submitting a bug report, the %%FreeBSD%% mailing lists, IRC channels, or forums can be used to help verify that an issue is actually a bug.

**The %%FreeBSD%% core team**

The %%FreeBSD%% core team would be equivalent to the board of directors if the %%FreeBSD%% Project were a company. The primary task of the core team is to make sure the project, as a whole, is in good shape and is heading in the right
directions. Inviting dedicated and responsible developers to join our group of committers is one of the functions of the core team, as is the recruitment of new core team members as others move on. The current core team was elected
from a pool of committer candidates in July 2014. Elections are held every 2 years.

Note:
Like most developers, most members of the core team are also volunteers when it comes to %%FreeBSD%% development and do not benefit from the project financially, so “commitment” should also not be misconstrued as meaning “guaranteed
support.” The “board of directors” analogy above is not very accurate, and it may be more suitable to say that these are the people who gave up their lives in favor of %%FreeBSD%% against their better judgement!

**Outside contributors**

Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of developers are the users themselves who provide feedback and bug fixes to us on an almost constant basis. The primary way of keeping in touch with %%FreeBSD%%'s more non-centralized development is to subscribe to the %%FreeBSD%% [[http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-hackers|technical discussions mailing list]] where such things are discussed. See [[https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/eresources.html|Appendix C, Resources on the Internet]] for more information about the various %%FreeBSD%% mailing lists.

[[https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/contributors/article.html|The FreeBSD Contributors List]] is a long and growing one, so why not join it by contributing something back to %%FreeBSD%% today?

Providing code is not the only way of contributing to the project; for a more complete list of things that need doing, please refer to the %%FreeBSD%% Project web site.

In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the convenience of the users of %%FreeBSD%%, who are provided with an easy way of tracking one central code base, not to keep potential contributors out! Our desire is to present a stable operating system with a large set of coherent application programs that the users can easily install and use — this model works very well in accomplishing that.

All we ask of those who would join us as %%FreeBSD%% developers is some of the same dedication its current people have to its continued success!

==== Third Party Programs (1.3.4) ====

In addition to the base distributions, %%FreeBSD%% offers a ported software collection with thousands of commonly sought-after programs. At the time of this writing, there were over 24,000 ports! The list of ports ranges from http servers, to games, languages, editors, and almost everything in between. The entire Ports Collection requires approximately 500 MB. To compile a port, you simply change to the directory of the program you wish to install, type make install, and let the system do the rest. The full original distribution for each port you build is retrieved dynamically so you need only enough disk space to build the ports you want. Almost every port is also provided as a pre-compiled “package”, which can be installed with a simple command (pkg install) by those who do not wish to compile their own ports from source. More information on packages and ports can be found in Chapter 4, Installing Applications: Packages and Ports.

==== Additional Documentation (1.3.5) ====

All supported %%FreeBSD%% versions provide an option in the installer to install additional documentation under /usr/local/share/doc/freebsd during the initial system setup. Documentation may also be installed at any later time using packages as described in Section 23.3.2, “Updating Documentation from Ports”. You may view the locally installed manuals with any HTML capable browser using the following URLs:

**The %%FreeBSD%% Handbook**
/usr/local/share/doc/freebsd/handbook/index.html

**The %%FreeBSD%% FAQ**
/usr/local/share/doc/freebsd/faq/index.html

You can also view the master (and most frequently updated) copies at [[https://www.FreeBSD.org/]].