Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund throws cash at FreeBSD and Samba
- Reference: 1727781252
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/01/freebsd_and_samba_funding/
- Source link:
The [1]STF gave [2]the GNOME Project €1 million in 2023, as [3]we mentioned in July , but clearly the fund has broader aspirations. The Register has [4]previously mentioned that FreeBSD also received funding. Now it looks like the foundation will spend its €686,400 ($767,200, or £573,000) by [5]investing it in its infrastructure .
These efforts are alongside an effort to [6]improve laptop support in the OS , which has been funded by a [7]separate investment from Quantum Leap Research (QLR). [8]QLR's website is less than forthcoming about what it does, but the FreeBSD folks mention that it "is focused on tackling some of the most complex problems faced by the Department of Defense and the US Intelligence Community." It seems multiple governments are bunging cash at FreeBSD.
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This is on top of recent [10]FreeBSD audio stack work . Some of this new effort, the team told us at [11]this year's EuroBSDCon in Dublin, is going toward improving power management, especially suspend/resume support, audio support including better microphone handling and utilizing media-playback keys, and, perhaps most of all, improving its Wi-Fi support.
[12]
[13]
FreeBSD can talk Wi-Fi, especially if you have an older WLAN NIC, but its ability to drive modern hardware is lacking. This is so problematic for some users that a project called [14]Wifibox has a radical solution: it runs a dedicated Linux VM under [15]bhyve , forwards the Wi-Fi hardware to that VM, and lets Linux control the WLAN with its more modern drivers, and then passes the resulting network connection back to the host machine. It reminds us of the bad old days of using [16]ndiswrapper to run Windows Wi-Fi drivers on Linux.
[17]Linux kernel 6.11 lands with vintage TV support
[18]GNOME 47 brings back some customization options, but let's not go crazy
[19]Fedora 41 beta arrives, neck-and-neck with Ubuntu – but with a different focus
[20]The early bird gets a touch of nostalgia as Ubuntu 24.10 hits beta
The STF has also [21]handed SerNet €688,800 ($769,937, or £574,924) to improve SAMBA, the FOSS stack for networking with Windows computers. [22]SerNet is the company behind [23]SAMBA+ , which is an [24]enhanced version of the FOSS Samba codebase aimed at enterprise customers.
In its announcement, SerNet [25]says : "Over the next 18 months, Samba core developers will tackle 17 key milestones in six target groups aimed at enhancing Samba's security, scalability, and functionality." The project's Johannes Loxen told The Reg :
The proposed work aims to improve Samba, focusing on interoperability, security, and scalability. By improving features like transparent failover, SMB3 UNIX extensions, and security protocols, and integrating modern technologies like SMB over QUIC and io_uring, the work contributes to the reliability and performance of Samba and makes it compatible with the latest protocols.
These activities align with STF's mission by supporting critical IT infrastructure and strengthening the open source ecosystem.
®
Bootnote
It will be interesting to see how increased use of the Linux kernel's io_uring calling system – which got the ability to [26]handle a couple more syscalls in the latest kernel – fits in with using Samba on FreeBSD, as the system is Linux-only.
Get our [27]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/about
[2] https://foundation.gnome.org/2023/11/09/gnome-recognized-as-public-interest-infrastructure/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/gnome_boss_steps_down/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/25/element_bosses_on_funding_open/
[5] https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/sovereign-tech-fund-to-invest-e686400-in-freebsd-infrastructure-modernization/
[6] https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/why-laptop-support-why-now-freebsds-strategic-move-toward-broader-adoption/
[7] https://freebsdfoundation.org/news-and-events/latest-news/quantum-leap-research-and-freebsd-foundation-to-invest-750000-to-improve-laptop-support-and-usability/
[8] https://www.ql-research.com/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zvwcp2w1q7ksbMC_IZ9RsgAAAdQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.freebsd.org/status/report-2024-04-2024-06/#_audio_stack_improvements
[11] https://2024.eurobsdcon.org/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zvwcp2w1q7ksbMC_IZ9RsgAAAdQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zvwcp2w1q7ksbMC_IZ9RsgAAAdQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://github.com/pgj/freebsd-wifibox
[15] https://bhyve.org/
[16] https://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/30/kernel_611/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/30/gnome_47/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/27/fedora_41_beta/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/25/ubuntu_2410_beta/
[21] https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/samba
[22] https://www.sernet.com/
[23] https://samba.plus/
[24] https://samba.plus/why-samba
[25] https://samba.plus/blog/detail/sernet-secures-funding-for-samba-project-from-sovereign-tech-fund
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/30/kernel_611
[27] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
and it will only work if doing things in FreeBSD comes as easy as in Windows to the masses, like setting up a printer or shared folder, dropping down to shells and magical commands will make it fail, users don't want this. Look at W11, yes love it or hate it, but M$ have realised maybe just in time by looking at it's own history, that the GUI rules the user no matter how great it's capabilities ..
Win3.1 OK
Win95 Good
Win98 Better
WinME Burn In Hell
W7 Really Good
W8 This Was Microsoft Having A Laugh With Us All
W9 Shhh It's Never Mentioned
W10 Very Good
W11 It's Good And Getting Better As Legacy Code And Apps removed Or Upgrade
[Author here]
> it will only work if doing things in FreeBSD comes as easy as in Windows to the masses,
Yeah, no.
FreeBSD is a niche OS compared to Linux, just as desktop Linux is a niche compared to Windows.
This is not an effort to make FreeBSD into a better desktop than Linux. It is an effort to make FreeBSD a better desktop, full stop.
FreeBSD is a highly capable Unix-like OS in its own terms and in its own space, but it is predominantly a server OS. I was invited to the EuroBSDCon by the FreeBSD project and talking to multiple BSD developers there, quite a few of them told me that they actually ran Linux for desktop use -- not because they lack the skills to get FreeBSD working. They don't. But because it's easier and it works better. Better drivers, better power management, more apps, etc.
But FreeBSD can be used as a desktop and if it had better power management, some faster wifi drivers, and a few other things, it'd be a pretty good one. And much of that would benefit servers, too.
!systemd
hope this push does not bring in systemd
Re: !systemd
hope this push does not bring in systemd
Systemd and the FreeBSD approach go together like vampires and garlic drenched crucifixes.
But FreeBSD can be used as a desktop and if it had better power management, some faster wifi drivers, and a few other things, it'd be a pretty good one.
I've been using FreeBSD as a desktop system for a quarter of a century with no problems (except for occasional Firefox & Thunderbird insanities). But I mainly use it on a desktop machine with a wired connection(*), rather than a laptop, so don't need power management or WiFi. I also stick to XFCE as I hate kitchen sink desktops.
(*) The net connection has always been into my office and I had major building work done 15 years ago, so the entire house got wired at the time. Now only the bathrooms & loos don't have at least two ethernet sockets.
MacOS and PlayStation OS are both based on FreeBSD. The problem is that as the BSD licence isn't copyleft, the work Apple and Sony did on it isn't available for others to use. But that's probably why they chose to base it on FreeBSD rather than Linux.
and it will only work if doing things in FreeBSD comes as easy as in Windows to the masses
[1]helloSystem ?
[1] https://hellosystem.github.io/
More countries should do this
The public sector depends on open source so it's only right that it supports it, and this way it can pay for development at a fraction of the price that consultancies charge... and get better software.
Kudos to German government then
Thank you!
/ I never thought I would write it, but here it is!/
"The Register confirms it. FreeBSD isn't dying"