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NetBSD 8.0 Released (netbsd.org)

Slashdot reader fisted quotes NetBSD.org: The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 8.0, the sixteenth major release of the NetBSD operating system.

This release brings stability improvements, hundreds of bug fixes, and many new features. Some highlights of the NetBSD 8.0 release are:

— USB stack rework, USB3 support added.
— In-kernel audio mixer (audio_system(9)).
— Reproducible builds
— PaX MPROTECT (W^X) memory protection enforced by default
— PaX ASLR enabled by default
— Position independent executables by default
[...]

NetBSD is free. All of the code is under non-restrictive licenses, and may be used without paying royalties to anyone.

39 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. Those Were the Days by mschwanke97402 · · Score: 1

    I remember using NetBSD and FreeBSD back in the day for my first web servers. Good stuff. The only thing I use it for now is my NAS.

    1. Re:Those Were the Days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I used FreeBSD until recently when they went full on libtard with their new social contract. NetBSD doesn't act that way and neither does OpenBSD. IT companies/organisations need to stay out of politics as much as possible, as it pollutes their mission. FreeBSD has seemingly jumped on the political bandwagon to their own detriment. NetBSD just quietly does what they do best and it shows.

    2. Re:Those Were the Days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm neither Republican nor Democrat, not being American, but I tire of technical firms meddling in politics. Everyone just *has to* do the "me, too!" garbage and detract from the mission. NetBSD, OpenBSD, FastMail, and so many other good organisations simply don't involve themselves, and this is the desired stance. No one cares whether an OS company is pro-this or anti-that. Just leave it out, mate... Focus on the tech only.

    3. Re:Those Were the Days by Desler · · Score: 1

      How does it detract from the mission? As GP said above:

      Was FreeBSD suddenly less efficient or more bug-ridden?

    4. Re:Those Were the Days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It doesn't happen overnight. Talent is removed from the contribution pool as eventually everybody makes a mistake and falls out of favour with the social justice crowd, and is ostracized. Others get sick of walking on eggshells all the time, worried they might offend somebody, and just say "fuck it", taking their skills elsewhere.

      It's a culture of fear cloaked in good intentions. Comply or the howler monkeys start flinging shit.

    5. Re:Those Were the Days by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      No, but it will be soon enough. Cancerous politics consume organizations from the inside out, distracting them from their original goals. Eventually, the organization will be consumed with identity politics, and software development will take a back seat to 'inclusivity' along with the other ideological shibboleths that typically accompany it.

      Choosing developers out of some misguided attempt at 'equality' along irrelevant attributes will eventually cause those with talent to leave. If the conduct code forces humorless and stifled interactions between developers, those with talent will leave. If the conduct code encourages witchhunting and extreme 'conformation', those with talent will leave.

      It'll boil down to the zealotry levels of those in charge, of course, but there's reason to be concerned when such draconian conduct codes are adopted. The fact it's based on the geek feminism wiki should be concerning to anyone who cares about freebsd.

      https://www.freebsd.org/intern...
      scroll to bottom

    6. Re:Those Were the Days by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Adults should not be bothered by stupid insults. There's a lot of good technical talent out there that's socially rough, or at least resists ideological conformity, and it's foolish to forgo it over something like that. It's adult-children who insist on idiotic CCs, and they step well beyond addressing the occasional insult. They are rife with implied assumptions and delusional thinking not unlike conspiracy theories: a fertile ground for powergrabbing witchhunts. The ones pushing for this are the dead weight who should get the boot.

      This is a software development project. Nerds rule the day here. It's neither desirable nor reasonable to conform them. It causes all sorts of psychological problems which will not result in happier developers nor better software. It also won't bring in non-nerds (which is one of the typical arguments for these CCs) because they simply don't have the skills or interest to develop system software anyway.

    7. Re:Those Were the Days by bgalbrecht · · Score: 1

      That's easy for you to say if you're not in a class of people who are routinely ridiculed, opinions discounted, sexually harassed, or receiving death and rape threats. Why should being technically adept give anyone a free ride to be an asshole?

  2. Great OS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nothing at all wrong with NetBSD. Runs on about everything. Been using it off and on since 1998. I prefer OpenBSD because it works better on laptops generally and has pf as a native program, but NetBSD is outstanding for embedded work and actually ran and runs some stuff for the space program. A phenomenal OS for small stuff.

  3. Agreed by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Informative

    I ran it forever in the 1990s and into the late 2000s. Super stable and it's so nice having a bare OS adding in only the things you need.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  4. A real commitment to multiplatform support by BaronM · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I continue to be impressed by NetBSD's multiplatform support. Even as Linux has retreated from older architectures, NetBSD keeps support alive.

    1. Re: A real commitment to multiplatform support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I remember running NetBSD on my Dreamcast like it was 1999, oh wait, I think it actually was 1999.

    2. Re: A real commitment to multiplatform support by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      Yep..too bad Oracle got ahold of them. Of course, Sunâ(TM)s âoegive Java, NFS, ZFS, and Solaris x64 away, but make money on ultra-reliable-but-low-performance hardwareâ strategy wasnâ(TM)t really a winner, either.

      Well the good news is FreeBSD got it before the sale to Oracle and has a license and contributed code. It is released under BSD so NetBSD can use it and port it. BUt and a big but ... after the shit Oracle pulled with Java saying we own all clean room implementations I could see them going awoll on them.

      I think porting USB 3 is much easier than porting dtrace or ZFS so there may not be enough developers and a budget to port these from FreeBSD. In general those who need performance and a Unix like OS have switched to Linux a long time ago. FreeBSD is also more appropriate for modern server grade hardware and support with these things.

    3. Re:A real commitment to multiplatform support by EETech1 · · Score: 2

      I get the feeling that the legacy code in the BSDs was of a much higher quality, whereas the old Linux code was likely a steaming pile that no one really knew what it did, or wanted to touch.

      Academic vs Hobby.

  5. Can you imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...a Beowulf cluster of NetBSD 8.0s running?

  6. "Reproducible builds"? by ortholattice · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was curious since I'd never heard of this problem before (or even had a clue of what the problem was about). I was led to this blog post, which is quite interesting. The issue is having the same source tree always build an identical cdrom. On the surface it sounds simple, but a surprising amount of work was needed to make it happen, all detailed in the blog post. I can't help but admire the obsessive perfectionism that won't leave the problem alone until it is completely resolved.

    1. Re:"Reproducible builds"? by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      The issue is having the same source tree always build an identical cdrom.

      Reproducible builds are hugely important in industry, but I think that producing an identical cdrom is the least of the benefits. The biggest benefit is build and test time. Imagine if a complete build of the entirety of Windows (all different platforms, all different versions) took 20+ hours on the build servers. But if each build step is a pure function from inputs to outputs, and you're 100% sure that ephemera mentioned in the article like timestamps, timezones, build order, paths on disk are absent, then suddenly it becomes correct to CACHE intermediate results. I'd expect to see at least 10x improvement in build+test times across a large organization, maybe 100x. This performance increase opens the door to being able to test within hours whether a change is safe for the product as a whole, rather than having to wait a day.

      (I guess this wouldn't be an advantage in a mythical ideal world where every single component is precisely specced and fully unit-tested, and if something passes its unit-tests then you can blindly trust that it will have no unintended consequences upon the product as a whole.)

    2. Re:"Reproducible builds"? by sad_ · · Score: 1

      fyi, debian has a reproducible builds project as well
      https://wiki.debian.org/Reprod...

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  7. Re:APK Hosts File Engine 64-bit for BSD... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Stop posting spam about your software. Your post has nothing to do with the topic of this article, which is the release of NetBSD 8.0. You deserve to be modded down. Spam like this is a big part of why you have so many problems with other users of this site. Also, I don't see any reason why you couldn't already run your software on NetBSD and FreeBSD, since they have Linux binary compatibility. OpenBSD used to as well, though I don't believe it does any longer. Also, if you really want your software to be used by BSD users, you'd be better off releasing it as an open source tool and maintaining it in the ports collection.

    Also, there are open source alternatives to your software such as Steven Black's hosts file software that seems to do exactly the same thing your software does. Also, Steven Black's software is written in Python and is cross-platform, so there's no need to maintain separate versions for Windows, Linux, and MacOS. The documentation suggests that software could run provide the same functionality on iOS and Android. It could run on *BSD right now without any difficulty. The fact that this software is cross-platform and open source seems to provide substantial advantages over yours.

    A hosts-based blacklist may be a useful component for securing a system, including a *BSD system. However, there are high-quality, open source, cross-platform solutions that already exist. If you want to implement a hosts-based blacklist on *BSD, I suggest taking a look at the software I linked to.

  8. USB 3.0 support just now? by kriston · · Score: 3, Interesting

    NetBSD just received USB 3.0 support just now?

    I had to check that. FreeBSD has had it since 2011.

    --

    Kriston

    1. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      NetBSD largely caters to older hardware and tiny, embedded systems, so it's not been a real push. It's nice to see it in there now, but for people running Sparc or SGI machines, it's not an issue. You probably know this, but NetBSD has a huge focus on the embedded market, where it shines very well. Some truly stellar stuff runs NetBSD.

    2. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Some truly stellar stuff runs NetBSD.

      So stellar that you couldn't even name a single example!

    3. Re: USB 3.0 support just now? by kriston · · Score: 1

      I'm going to say "just" four more times: just, just, just, just.

      --

      Kriston

    4. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      NetBSD was used in NASA's SAMS-II Project of measuring the microgravity environment on the International Space Station, and for investigations of TCP for use in satellite networks.

    5. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      NetBSD just received USB 3.0 support just now?

      I had to check that. FreeBSD has had it since 2011.

      And even that was 3 years after it came out! I'm all for stability but did it literally take 10 years for this incredibly common and widely useful interface to be supported?

    6. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      NetBSD largely caters to older hardware and tiny, embedded systems, so it's not been a real push.

      Back when netbsd supported many more architectures than Linux, it had a reason to exist. Now that it supports only a small fraction of what Linux does, it's time to let it die.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The fact that just about every Linux distro is infected with systemd these days is even more reason for the BSDs to stick around. No reason to bloat up your embedded project with that.

    8. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by kriston · · Score: 1

      Ironic since the BSDs were the first free x86 UN*X distributions to support USB.

      --

      Kriston

    9. Re:USB 3.0 support just now? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Moreso that NetBSD is known as the OS that'll run on anything ... as long as it's not installed on a USB 3.0 drive that is :)

  9. Re:Always is "MARY"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Rather than actually addressing the issues I raised in my post, you've turned to personal attacks almost instantly. Part of your post is pretty damn incomprehensible. However, I can honestly say I've never moderated any of your posts, either up or down. Your post is offtopic and it is spam, so I feel no sympathy for you that it will probably be modded to -1.

    However, I'm going to focus on the technical issues.

    1) You've bragged that you have the second largest hosts file in existence, blocking every ad server there is. While the part about blocking every ad server seems dubious, there's another issue. The software I linked to aims to limit the size of the hosts file in order to maintain performance. That's why hphosts isn't included. If your file is as large as you claim, surely that adversely affects performance.

    2) Why do you even need a separate *BSD version? This just doesn't make sense. As I pointed out, many of the BSDs already have binary compatibility with Linux. If all you're doing is writing a file to /etc/hosts, why would you need a separate *BSD version at all? NetBSD and FreeBSD have binary compatibility with Linux, so shouldn't your closed source software already run under Linux?

    3) Alternatively, why not open the source to your software and maintain it as part of the ports collection? That's a really nice feature of the BSDs, and would likely increase the use of your software.

    4) Why is your software better than what I linked to in my previous post? The functionality seems to be the same, except that the software I linked to is open source and already cross-platform. You've claimed the GUI is an advantage of your software, but I disagree. It would probably be better to run the software as a daemon or a cron job, possibly with an optional GUI frontend. Rather than hurling personal attacks as you've opted to do, perhaps you should explain why your software is an improvement over what's already been released.

  10. Re: Can you imagine?! USB3 by Desler · · Score: 1

    What does USB3 have to do with gaming?

  11. Re: Dead OS by GerryGilmore · · Score: 1

    Normally, I don't respond to ACs, but...it just so happens that in the late '90s/early '00s, I was working at Intel and attended a Linux Summit at the mothership.
    ESR, Linus Himself, etc. were there and I had the chance to talk with Linus at the end of the talks and we discussed this very issue.
    I posited that the GPL license, which "forces" changes to be available vs the BSD license which "allows" changes to be available, would - ultimately - cause the Linux ecosystem to grow more rapidly than the BSD side.
    He disagreed, but with no vehemence, and I suspect that he somewhat agreed, but didn't want to push that aspect of it.
    He and ESR both gave really compelling talks - great experience!

  12. But can it run systemd? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Nobody needs an Unix-like system without systemd anymore.

    1. Re:But can it run systemd? by Rockoon · · Score: 2

      NetBSD would never include systemd because its never necessary. It is not solving a problem that otherwise went unsolved. Meanwhile it creates problems that otherwise wouldnt exist.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  13. FACT:: BSD Is Dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It is official; Netcraft confirms: NetBSD is dying

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already bleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft 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 fittingly 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. NetBSD 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.

    Due 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 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 dilettante dabblers. NetBSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a cockeyed miracle could save NetBSD from its fate at this point in time. For all practical purposes, NetBSD is dead.

    Fact: NetBSD is dead

  14. Topic by Opyros · · Score: 1

    For some reason, this article is under linux.slashdot.org rather than bsd.slashdot.org. How come?

  15. Re: Always is "MARY"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    True, but APK is losing his fucking mind right now.

    I've noticed in the past week that quite a few folks have taken the time to write him meaningful replies, possibly because no-one wants blood on their hands when the guy goes completely over the edge and jumps off a bridge.

  16. Re:Look everyone: It's JEALOUS "Lil' Jowie" (lol) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yes APK, everyone of these posts that is critical of you is from the same fucking person. Different styles, different wording, different grammar, different posting pattern. But every fucking one is from the same person. Actually it seems more likely that you are the one who is fucking nuts and paranoid. Just because you spend every waking hour trying to spam slashdot with your bullshit engine as much a possible doesn't mean everyone else does. Maybe you can tell us all about your zuckerberg theories instead.

  17. Reproducible builds? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Reproducible builds is a highlight? OMG. That really worries me that at this stage in the game that's a highlight. RedHat was doing that with Linux over two decades ago. Hell, even Microsoft has been doing that for years.