Arch GNU/Linux Ported To Run On the FreeBSD Kernel
An anonymous reader writes "The Arch Linux distribution has been modified to run off the FreeBSD 9.0 kernel as an alternative to using Linux. The developer of Arch BSD explained his reasoning as enjoying FreeBSD while also liking the Arch Linux philosophy of a 'fast, lightweight, optimized distro,' so he sought to combine the two operating systems to have FreeBSD at its core while being encircled by Arch. The Arch BSD initiative is similar to Debian GNU/kFreeBSD."
The name of the distro is "Arch Linux," not GNU/Linux. You can rename a GPL package whatever you want when you distribute it.
I probably wouldn't actually use a Linux-distro-now-with-BSD-kernel for regular usage, but the porting efforts tend to do a good job uncovering not-quite-portable parts of supposedly portable code, which makes everything more robust. So I like that they exist, because the fact that they work at all gives me some more confidence that portable code is working like it's supposed to.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
As a longtime FreeBSD user, I am wondering why bother? I can run Linux binaries through the built-in compatibility layer since at least 7.x
How is using the FreeBSD kernel with the GNU userland any better than running the GNU binaries directly on a full FreeBSD system? If this is to improve "desktop" usability, how does this compare to something like the PC-BSD distribution of FreeBSD?
I'm not quite dead yet. Think I'll go for a walk. I'm so happy, SO HAPP....<thud>
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
The author of this suggests that ArchBSD helps with not having to build from source, which may in fact draw the masses of people that don't realize FreeBSD uses PKG_ADD and building from source is optional in most cases. PC-BSD has its own package system as well which makes creating a whole new one pretty unnecessary. Freshports is more than adequate most times even still. With all that's lacking where ARM is concerned why is there still a focus on this and why is it headline worthy?
I always used Arch primarily for setting up servers ... the FreeBSD kernel is an interesting addition.
Like tearing down the efforts of others in forum posts!
Wasted effort that would have been better spent on something useful.
That time is not yours to spend.
Some people spend their time playing golf, others spend it arguing on the interwebs. None of them are useful but it is also unlikely that those who do so will be willing to do something else unless you pay them to.
This dude spent his time doing something way more useful than most other people but you call it wasted time.
As long as people participates in sports, watch TV or go to the cinema I find it a bit odd to call this a waste of time.
I'm wondering how they'll go about the init system now that Arch has decided to move to systemd and drop support for initscripts. Last I heard systemd uses a lot of Linux specific features and cannot easily be ported to a *BSD.
Too bad the site is down at the moment.
It's something the developers can put on their resume. And that is the real value.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
why? why so much dedication on to things that have no point vs things that will make Linux better in terms of usability and to take over the desktop. Such a waste.
I could see some use in this. I happen to like FreeBSD and ports - but if you were a Arch Linux expert, now you have a way to get really stable ZFS up quickly without learning a whole new environment.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Headline makes it sound like Linux has been ported to BSD. Ten years ago I would have said "That doesn't make any sense," but then User Mode Linux came along (where other operating systems, rather than just hardware, become the port platform target). If you RTFA, though, this does not involve User Mode Linux. It doesn't involve any Linux at all, so it should be left out of the name; it should be called Arch GNU/BSD.
To put it another way, when you run a certain multimedia player on your NOT-AN-XBOX hardware, you might call that app XBMC. You don't (ever) call it X Box Multimedia Consoleorwhateverthelastwordis, because there's no XBox involved.
Another analogy (because this is Slashdot where we love such things). I once heard a funny story about an English man who had dark skin, being called an "African-American" by some PC-non-thinker. The dunce would call him African-American, and the English dude would say, "No, I'm not American. I wasn't born in American, I don't live in America, I've never been there. Don't call me American," and the PC guy would think "but you're black, except I'm not allowed to label a person 'black' because the pc police say I have to blindly search-and-replace 'black' with 'African American' so..." and then he'd repeat the mistake.
That is what you're doing when you call this project "Linux." You sound just as dumb as the "You're African-American" dolt. It's not Linux, just as the black Englishman is not an African-American.
I'll agree there. It's a nice resume bullet point.
You're right, it's not my time and I'm not going to claim to desire to dictate how they spend theirs.
I just don't see the value proposition in spending time on this versus spending the time perfecting Arch Linux. I'm not an Arch user, though I'm interested in it. Right now I tend to mainly use Debian, Mint, and FreeBSD. What I'm sure of is that there are bugs and usability issues in Arch that this effort could have been used to address.
I can appreciate their efforts from a technical standpoint, but in the end they used that time to create a technical novelty that in reality will not see a long term use nor large scale adoption. A sharper and more polished Arch experience would have a tremendously larger impact compared to this.
Still better than the weekly news about Firefox version increment.
And I personally like to keep an eye on the development. Imagine the power of the Linux packaging combined with the BSD kernel. Imagine the sound system which doesn't suck. Imagine the storage, if supported at all, crunching data at half the usual rate. Imagine the unaccelerated graphical interface... ...I digress. But it is still interesting.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
I just don't see the value proposition in spending time on this versus spending the time perfecting Arch Linux. I'm not an Arch user, though I'm interested in it. Right now I tend to mainly use Debian, Mint, and FreeBSD. What I'm sure of is that there are bugs and usability issues in Arch that this effort could have been used to address.
I didn't read the article (yet... yeah I know) but I can already come up with an answer - maybe this guy's expertise/interest is in low level kernel details that would crop up swapping kernels, instead of in bugs/usability issues which sound UI or user-mode related to me. It's like asking a compiler internals person to fix GNOME 3. Come on, not every developer and their particular skillset is 100% interchangeable with the area that you think needs attention.
So the technical truth is: "Arch Linux has a version where Linux operating system has been swapped to FreeBSD operating system."
Yes, that is the truth. There is no "GNU/Linux" and even that both, Linux and FreeBSD are monolithic kernels (== monolithic operating system) they are not "just kernels" like microkernels are.
GNU/Linux would be true only if Linux would be a microkernel but then it would be HURD/Linux as HURD is the operating system, what use a microkernel. HURD is microkernel + servers == server-client OS architecture != monolithic OS architecture.
>I can appreciate their efforts from a technical standpoint, but in the end they used that time to create a technical novelty that in reality will not see a long term use nor large scale adoption. A sharper and more polished Arch experience would have a tremendously larger impact compared to this.
Personally, I don't see the point to having a Linux userland with a FreeBSD kernel or vice versa. I'd much rather have a stable system with wide adoption (either Linux or FreeBSD, not some unholy hybrid), but I like the fact that this exists anyway. In the free and open source software world, anyone with interest and time on their hands can do what they want to do. This is in opposition to the closed model where a few decision makers are trying to maximize profit given their resources.
FOSS works a lot like darwinian evolution. A lot of random mutations occur and most do not survive. A few, however, do survive and become widespread and we are better off for it. Don't think of it as wasted effort, think of it as part of the process.
I'm quite sure they could find some low level mess that needs attention.. There is plenty out there.. Honestly, even if kernel code is what they dream of at night then spending their time testing, validating, and patching problems in either or both of the Linux and FreeBSD kernels would be far more beneficial to the entire FOSS ecosystem than another GNU distro port using the FreeBSD kernel.
Again, they can spend their time however they want. I just think it's a shame it wasn't spent doing something more beneficial/practical.
I'm sure this is an interesting project, though I can't imagine many people will want an OS which takes for ever to install and won't run on a lot of consumer hardware. As others have said, the benefit here will probably be patching upstream projects which were not entirely portable.
Slashdot is exactly the place for news like this to be posted.
/* No Comment */
What is an Arch Linux expert?
In December I had the opportunity to try Arch out while attempting to get Xen working on a newly built pc. The Xen experiment failed but I did find myself liking the way Arch did things enough to install it on a SD card for my laptop just a week ago, replacing a FreeBSD 8 install. I really keep it there mostly for emergencies so perhaps I'll wipe and reinstall with this new BSD variant. But I'll still be keeping 9.1 on my desktop, at least for now.
"The Arch Linux distribution has been modified to run off the FreeBSD 9.0 kernel as an alternative to using Linux. The developer of Arch BSD explained his reasoning as enjoying FreeBSD while also liking the Arch Linux philosophy of a 'fast, lightweight, optimized distro,' so he sought to combine the two operating systems to have FreeBSD at its core while being encircled by Arch. The Arch BSD initiative is similar to Debian GNU/kFreeBSD."
Well, if you want it "encircled" you're gonna need another Arch. Or maybe some cowbell?
The answer to your alleged debacle is easy to find: Just follow the money.
Oh, wait: There isn't any money. It's just a hobby.
So please, if you want to contribute to the greater good (however you define that), feel free to do so. Otherwise GTFO and STFU.
Kid-proof tablet..
Someone who is an expert using Arch Linux. Please try to keep up and don't be so dense.
All 3 users are excited.
Quite possibly so.
When googling for some Linux answers there often comes up rather insightful posts from the Arch Linux bulletin board. I don't use the distro myself, but I see the smart people in their community as a positive thing.
go back to pcmag, dumbass.
Does this maen it will now be possible to run Arch in a FreeBSD jail like we can currently do with Debian?
you are nought but a fucking idiot.
For crunching data You have to use Crunchbang Linux! ;)
And why don't they take FBSD userland, put it on top of the HURD kernel, and try it out?
Their IRC channel says:
Note: It's BSD userland ignore the sources that say it's GNU userland
They should have made this clear on the homepage.
It's not even hidden in a FAQ, as far as I can tell.
You all are a bunch of dumb-fuck, think-you-know-it-alls who really do not possess a smidgeon of actual experience or true knowledge. Talk about wasting time? I am my wasting time berating you fuck-asses for calling this project a waste of time. What you do at work is a waste of time regardless of your worthless jobs. Try posting something meaningful, if even counter-supportive of the article, but for fuck-sake, don't waste every readers' time with pointless...opinionated...intelligence-lacking posts. Good day.