FreeBSD is a free, open-source and UNIX-like operating system. Though relatively unknown, it’s a performing and powerful work-horse, capable of coping with massive work-loads whilest remaining fast, ultra-stable and rock-solid. Blogging about FreeBSD and operating systems based on this versatile, safe and secure OS, I want to generate more interest in FreeBSD and its dependants. If you need a reliable, rock-solid and performing system for either your desktop or servers, consider FreeBSD!
BSDTalk has a 16 minute interview with James Nixon, webmaster and committer for PC-BSD and employed by iXsystems.
They talk about some of the new features coming up in PC-BSD 8.0, gaming on BSD, his work on the unique look and feel of PC-BSD, and Camp KDE.
BSDTalk 185 – Listen to the podcast: MP3 | OGG
A problem has been identified with the FreeBSD 7 series ULE Scheduler :
FreeBSD has two schedulers: the classic 4BSD scheduler and a newer, more SMP-aware scheduler called ULE. The 4BSD scheduler was the default scheduler until FreeBSD 7.0. Starting with FreeBSD 7.1 the default scheduler is ULE.
The scheduler is responsible for allocating CPU time to threads and assigning threads to CPUs. Runnable threads (i.e. threads which arenot waiting for a blocking operation, such as an I/O operation, memory allocation or lock acquisition, to complete) are assigned to a CPU and placed in that CPU’s run queue. Each thread and each CPU’s run queue is protected by a separate lock.
II. Problem Description
When a thread is reassigned from one CPU to another, the scheduler first acquires the thread’s lock, then releases the source CPU’s run queue lock. The scheduler then acquires the target CPU’s run queue lock and holds the lock while it adds the thread to the queue and signals the target CPU. Finally it reacquires the source CPU’s run queue lock before unlocking the thread. A thread on the target CPU, having been notified of the reassigned thread’s arrival on the target CPU’s run queue, will then acquire the thread’s lock before switching it in.
For general information regarding FreeBSD Errata Notices and Security Advisories, including descriptions of the fields above, security branches, and the following sections, please visit http://security.freebsd.org
bsdtv.org has launched on blip.tv
Currently there are 3 videos listed:
1 BSDTV -NYCBUG
This video was made from the slides and audio recording of a NYCBUG meeting in Jan. of 2010. From the NYCBUG site: This presentation gives a brief high level overview of Hadoop. Next, we hit the ground running with a quick practical example of how Hadoop solves a “big data” problem. We also discuss how the demonstrated Hadoop processing model scales out to terabytes of data and hundreds or even thousands of computers.
2 BSD4LinuxUsers
Dru Lavigne, Chair of the BSD Certification Group gives an informative talk about the differences between Linux-based and BSD Operating Systems. This talk covers the different BSD Operating Systems (PCBSD, DragonFlyBSD FreeBSD NetBSD & OpenBSD) and how they compare with the numerous Linux-based distributions.
3 BSD Certification Group: A Case Study in Open Source Certification
Dru Lavigne, Chair of the BSD Certification Group gives an informative talk about the creation of the open source certification system for the BSD operating system. This talk covers the BSDA and BSDP certifications and the Psychometrically Valid testing process for confirming an in depth knowledge of the BSD operating system.
To get involved in bsdTV, contact Patric McEvoy
For those not aware, there’s also a YouTube BSD Conferences channel
Nvidia has released new video drivers for FreeBSD yesterday (v 195.36.08)
Nvidia is making quite a lot of gamers happy with the latest update to its display drivers for *NIX platforms (Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris). Nvidia 195.36.08 adds support for a few of the latest graphics adapters from the chip maker, specifically Quadro FX 880M, GeForce GTS 350M and GeForce GTS 360M. The latest Nvidia 195.36.08 driver also adds support for NVIDIA 3D Vision Stereo with Quadro GPUs. It also comes with a lot of updates and changes for the VDPAU API Nvidia developed to offload video processing and decoding to the graphics unit. (source)
Highlights of Nvidia 195.36.08:
Dru Lavigne’s “Definitive Guide to PC-BSD” book is now available to pre-order at freebsdmall.com and amazon.com
This is the table of contents.
The second Release Candidate build for the FreeBSD-7.3 release cycle is now available. Ken Smith announced FreeBSD 7.3 RC yesterday:
The third and what should be last of the test builds for the 7.3-RELEASE cycle, 7.3-RC2, is available for amd64, i386, pc98, and sparc64 architectures. [more]
The target schedule, the current status and things yet to be done before the final release is available here:
According to last months Netcraft webhost reliability report, two web hosts in the top 10 run FreeBSD as their operating system.
After an email conversation with one of the guys from RootBSD last month, I realised that these statistics are useless. He writes:
Netcraft is not an impartial source for measuring uptime. The problems with Netcraft for picking a webhost:
- Hosts where their data collectors are located are obviously favored due to best latency and reliability — not having to cross over Internet paths
- Only hosts who pay them 1200 GBP / year are included.
- They are only measuring the web host’s website, which may not even be hosted on the same infrastructure as customer sites.
You see, I wasn’t aware that only paying webhosters were included. So it’s mainly the big ‘boys’ with big marketing budgets that are willing to pay for this service.
As this is not giving a true picture of the reliability and the use of FreeBSD within the hosting community, I will not refer to the monthly Netcraft report going forward.
RootBSD prefers webhostingstuff.com to show their reliability and uptime.
About RootBSD:
RootBSD was established with one goal in mind: provide reliable, flexible, and supported BSD-based hosting services to professionals and businesses. Originally we were searching for a quality service provider to work with us on providing hosting. A lengthy search yielded many providers that only offer BSD as a haphazard option to their packages designed for Linux or providers who simply don’t meet the business requirements in reliability and stability for which we were looking.RootBSD gives you the power to innovate and scale on top of the BSD operating systems. Our services are rock solid; in fact, you might call us the BSD hosting solution.
Find out more about RootBSD’s FreeBSD VPS Hosting (virtual private server)
RootBSD was established with one goal in mind: provide reliable, flexible, and supported BSD-based hosting services to professionals and businesses. Originally we were searching for a quality service provider to work with us on providing hosting. A lengthy search yielded many providers that only offer BSD as a haphazard option to their packages designed for Linux or providers who simply don’t meet the business requirements in reliability and stability for which we were looking.
RootBSD gives you the power to innovate and scale on top of the BSD operating systems. Our services are rock solid; in fact, you might call us the BSD hosting solution.
Every so many months the never ending discussion about the BSD vs GPL license heats up. Supporters for either license have their thoughts and opinions to why one license is better than the other. Some say that these discussions are a waste of time. Whichever license you defend/promote, if you’re interested in reading (and joining in) the discussions, have a look at these two sites:
1 FreeBSD and the GPL (IT Pro – itpro.com)
Linus Torvalds has said Linux wouldn’t have happened if 386BSD had been around when he started up. We trace the history of FreeBSD and how it’s affected the open source world.
The first free Unix-like operating systemavailable on the IBM PC was 386BSD, of which Linus Torvalds said in 1993: “If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never have happened.”
386BSD was a direct descendant of Bill Joy’s Berkeley Software Distribution, which was the core of SunOS and other proprietary Unix distributions. 386BSD and the patchkit for the port to the Intel chip formed the basis for FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD, which have carried the torch for BSD and open source Unix to this day.
Read the whole article (BSD history and BSD/GPL license)
2 osnews.com dissussion
The first Release Candidate build for the FreeBSD-7.3 release cycle is now available. ISO images for are now available on most of the FreeBSD mirror sites.
A few months ago iXsystems (the corporate sponsor behind FreeNAS and PC-BSD) moved into a new and larger office.
Time for some pictures of the building, the team and the assembly halls.
See the rest of the pictures here
iXsystems is the all-around FreeBSD company that builds FreeBSD certified servers and storage solutions, runs the FreeBSD Mall, and is the corporate sponsor of the FreeNAS and the PC-BSD Projects. We also provide FreeBSD Hardware Support and Professional Enterprise Grade FreeBSD and PC-BSD Support.
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