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NetBSD 1.5ZB

Dahan writes: "I just saw that the development branch of NetBSD is now at version 1.5ZB. A change log is available for those interested. Note that although the title of the page says it's a list of changes from NetBSD 1.5 to 1.6, NetBSD 1.6 is not out yet--the page lists changes that will be in 1.6 whenever it's released. (And when will that be? "When it's ready," of course.) Standard caution about not running development kernels on mission-critical systems applies, although I've been running 1.5ZA on my DEC^H^H^HCompaq Alpha PC164 web/mail/DNS/whatever server for a few months now, and it's been great. And for those of you used to the Linux version numbering scheme and are wondering what all these letters mean, here's an explanation of NetBSD's version numbering."

6 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. NetBSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    NetBSD is dying.

    Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered NetBSD community when last month goatse.cx confirmed that NetBSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that NetBSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. NetBSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict NetBSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: NetBSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for NetBSD because NetBSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for NetBSD. As many of us are already aware, NetBSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. NetBSD is the most endangered of them all.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    NetBSD leader Theo DeRaadt states that there are 7000 users of OpenNetBSD. How many users of NetNetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenNetBSD versus NetNetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetNetBSD users. NetBSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetNetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of NetBSD/OS. A recent article put FreeNetBSD at about 80 percent of the NetBSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeNetBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeNetBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of OpenBSD, abysmal sales and so on, WindRiver went out of business and was taken over by Palm, Inc. who sell another troubled OS. Now Palm, Inc. is also dead, its corpse turned over to another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that NetBSD has steadily declined in market share. NetBSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If NetBSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. NetBSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, NetBSD is dead.

    Fact: NetBSD is dead.

  2. NetBSD is more secure than OpenBSD. by Jeb+Beckman · · Score: 0, Troll

    NetBSD is SECURE.

    OpenBSD is easier to hack, more vulnerable than a Windows OS. Too bad because a secure OS could be one advantageous feature over a Microsoft OS.

    OpenBSD is unsafe and unsecure. And that is undesireable.

  3. OpenBSD is UNSECURE by Jeb+Beckman · · Score: 0, Troll

    OpenBSD is UNSECURE.

    This is a real concern with some of our customers. So we have to hack, I mean add, our own security encrytions which tends to be patchwork.

    How come somebody cannot make a secure OS? The Intel Pentium architecture allows for good security.

  4. *BSD: the art of failure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    When we see a system such as *BSD fail in such a catastrophic manner, we ask ourselves ``why?''.

    So why now? Why did *BSD fail? Once you get past the fact that *BSD is fragmented between a myriad of incompatible kernels, there is the historical record of failure and of failed operating systems. *BSD experienced moderate success about 15 years ago in academic circles. Since then it has been in steady decline. We all know *BSD keeps losing market share but why? Is it the problematic personalities of many of the key players? Or is it larger than their troubled personalities?

    The record is clear on one thing: no operating system has ever come back from the grave. Efforts to resuscitate *BSD are one step away from spiritualists wishing to communicate with the dead. As the situation grows more desperate for the adherents of this doomed OS, the sorrow takes hold. An unremitting gloom hangs like a death shround over a once hopeful *BSD community. The hope is gone; a mournful nostalgia has settled in. Now is the end time for *BSD.

  5. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Netcraft officially confirms *BSD is dying

    Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguerd *BSD community when recently IDC confirmed that *BSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcrft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as further exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Du to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its longterm survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    *BSD is dying

  6. MSNBC reports that BSD IS DYING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The front headline on MSNBC this morning was the breaking news that BSD IS DYING. For those of you too lazy to look it up on Google, here's a copy of the article:

    You don't have to be Kreskin to predict BSD's future -- what's left of it, that is. The opinions of an overenthusiastic fan base who are blind to the harsh realities of BSD's demise don't change the fact that BSD IS DYING.

    It should be obvious that anyone currently using a BSD OS should switch to a superior one (such as Windows 3.1, CP/M or Commodore BASIC) before it's too late because BSD IS DYING and you can easily go down with the ship when it finally breaks into two and sinks to the bottom of the free software ocean like the titanic failure that it is.

    It's a combination of terrible hardware support, unuseable utilities and a pathetic application base (which unskilled, kludgy attempts at Linux emulation have failed to remedy) that have led to the death of BSD. Everyone, get out while you still can because BSD IS DYING.