News: 0177764351

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

FreeBSD: 'We're Still Here. (Let's Share Use Cases!)' (freebsdfoundation.org)

(Monday May 26, 2025 @03:34AM (EditorDavid) from the old-OS dept.)


31 years ago FreeBSD was first released. But here in 2025, searches for the Unix-like FreeBSD OS keep increasing on Google, [1]notes the official FreeBSD blog — and it's at least a two-year trend. Yet after talking to some businesses using (or interested in using) FreeBSD, they sometimes found that because FreeBSD isn't talked about as much, "people think it's dying. This is a clear example of the [2]availability heuristic .

> The availability heuristic is a fascinating mental shortcut. It's how product names become verbs and household names. To 'Google' [search], to 'Hoover' [vacuum], to 'Zoom' [video meeting]. They reached a certain tipping point that there was no need to do any more thinking. One just googles , or zooms .

>

> These days, building internet services doesn't require much thought about the underlying systems. With containers and cloud platforms, development has moved far from the hardware. Operating systems aren't top of mind — so people default to what's familiar. And when they do think about the OS, it's usually Linux. But sitting there, [3]quietly powering masses of the internet , without saying boo to a goose, is FreeBSD. And the companies using it? They're not talking about it. Why? Because they don't have to. The simple fact that dawned on me is FreeBSD's gift to us all, yet Achilles heel to itself, is [4]its license .

>

> Unlike the GPL, which requires you to share derivative works, the BSD license doesn't. You can take FreeBSD code, build on it, and never give anything back. This makes it a great foundation for products — but it also means there's little reason for companies to return their contributions... [W]e'd like to appeal to companies using FreeBSD. Talk to us about your use case ... We, the FreeBSD Foundation, can be the glue between industry and software and hardware vendors alike.

>

> In the meantime, [5]stay tuned to this blog and [6]the YouTube channel . We have some fantastic content coming up, featuring solutions built on top of FreeBSD and showcasing modern laptops for daily use.



[1] https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/the-report-of-my-death-was-an-exaggeration/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/28/freebsd_foundation_25/

[4] https://www.freebsd.org/copyright/freebsd-license/

[5] https://freebsdfoundation.org/feed/

[6] https://youtube.com/@freebsdproject?si=Ly9T5JbCjjKfQo_s



What is this the matrix (Score:2)

by tiananmen tank man ( 979067 )

I click on the link that say blog, I get a XML file with this content at the top

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

And then the rest of the XML file, I'm expecting a HTML file.

pfsense firewall (Score:1)

by Anonymous Coward

Use it via pfsense firewall. However the disadvantage is it doesn't do "cone NAT" whereas Linux can do cone NAT.

So VoIP, some games and similar stuff won't work as well.

wifi support sucks too (not important for my firewall stuff).

Xerox? (Score:2)

by martin-boundary ( 547041 )

I don't think anybody "xeroxes" any more...

Use case (Score:1)

by MR LOLALOT ( 1286276 )

Hosting 4chan, of course ;)

By the way (Score:3)

by vbdasc ( 146051 )

You can take GPL code too, modify it, and not give back your contributions. Just keep your modifications for your own use, without publishing them to other people to see.

FreeBSD blog claims they're still there (Score:2)

by beowulfcluster ( 603942 )

But does Netcraft confirm it?

systemd refugees (Score:2)

by vbdasc ( 146051 )

When your favorite Linux distro gets infected by systemd, you can:

1. Flee to slackware

2. Flee to freebsd

3. ?

FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, BSDi... ? (Score:1)

by gavron ( 1300111 )

I am confused by all the BSD flavors. Other than the lack of Theo The Rat, how is FreeBSD different from the other *BSDs?

Also, BSD is a unix derivate from the 1970s. There have been 55 years of knowledge that has made Linux a server-grade OS. What has been done with the *BSDs?

If someone can point to a writeup or history that describes

- differences between those OSs

- evolution through the last half century

- compare the BSDs and -- if appropriate -- to modern Linux

That would be really useful.

I seek to lear

"Never give in. Never give in. Never. Never. Never."
-- Winston Churchill