[HN Gopher] FreeBSD 14.0-Release
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       FreeBSD 14.0-Release
        
       Author : cperciva
       Score  : 90 points
       Date   : 2023-11-20 21:16 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.freebsd.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.freebsd.org)
        
       | vedranm wrote:
       | Congratulations! Here's a summary of the highlights from the
       | release announcement [1]:
       | 
       | - OpenSSH has been updated to version 9.5p1.
       | 
       | - OpenSSL has been updated to version 3.0.12, a major upgrade
       | from OpenSSL 1.1.1t in FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE.
       | 
       | - The bhyve hypervisor now supports TPM and GPU passthrough.
       | 
       | - FreeBSD supports up to 1024 cores on the amd64 and arm64
       | platforms.
       | 
       | - ZFS has been upgraded to OpenZFS release 2.2, providing
       | significant performance improvements.
       | 
       | - It is now possible to perform background filesystem checks on
       | UFS file systems running with journaled soft updates.
       | 
       | - Experimental ZFS images are now available for AWS and Azure.
       | 
       | - The default congestion control mechanism for TCP is now CUBIC.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/announce/
        
         | throw0101a wrote:
         | > _- ZFS has been upgraded to OpenZFS release 2.2, providing
         | significant performance improvements._
         | 
         | Post-2.2 OpenZFS has RAID-Z expansion committed:
         | 
         | * https://github.com/openzfs/zfs/discussions/15232
         | 
         | Also committed to FreeBSD -HEAD/development:
         | 
         | * https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-
         | src/commit/e716630d4cf89e...
        
         | scythe wrote:
         | - cperciva (also submitter of this post) now head of the releng
         | team
        
           | cperciva wrote:
           | To be clear, me taking over the release engineering team a
           | few days before the release announcement was entirely
           | coincidental timing.
        
         | jbverschoor wrote:
         | - The bhyve hypervisor now supports TPM and GPU passthrough
         | 
         | Supernice.. I'm really looking forward to more separation
         | between OS installs. similar to Qubes.
        
       | BSDobelix wrote:
       | Thanks to everyone who made FreeBSD possible! Cheers!!
        
       | boznz wrote:
       | > FreeBSD supports up to 1024 cores on the amd64 and arm64
       | platforms.
       | 
       | Sounds pretty future proofed unless I'm missing a x86 processor
       | out there that does this
        
         | Koshkin wrote:
         | > _up to 1024_
         | 
         | Curious where this (rather large, yet still seemingly
         | arbitrary) limit comes from.
        
           | throw0101a wrote:
           | > _Curious where this (rather large, yet still seemingly
           | arbitrary) limit comes from._
           | 
           | It is Good Enough for now, while keeping various pre-
           | allocated, statically created structures with-in reasonable
           | size limits:
           | 
           | > _Global and allocated arrays sized by MAXCPU result in
           | excessive bloat on systems with lower core counts. In
           | addition, some code used u_char (8 bits) to hold a CPU index,
           | which is not valid if MAXCPU is greater than 256._
           | 
           | > _A number of recent commits addressed these sorts of
           | issues, including at least:_ [...]
           | 
           | * https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=9051987e40c5
           | 
           | See:
           | 
           | > _The SMP system now supports up to 1024 cores on amd64 and
           | arm64. Many kernel CPU sets are now dynamically allocated to
           | avoid consuming excessive memory. The kernel cpuset ABI has
           | been updated to support the higher limit. 76887e84be97[1]
           | d1639e43c589[2] 9051987e40c5[3] e0c6e8910898[4] (Sponsored by
           | The FreeBSD Foundation)_
           | 
           | * https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/relnotes/#kernel-
           | gene...
        
           | toast0 wrote:
           | Gotta have some limit, 4x the current limit of 256 seems
           | reasonableish. Dual socket Epyc 9654 is 96 cores * 2 threads
           | / core * 2 sockets = 384 threads. Intel says their Xeon
           | Platinum 8490H can live on an 8 socket board[1], if you can
           | find one (SuperMicro has one, no price listed [2]); 60 * 2 *
           | 8 = 960, so that's within the limit, and 8 socket boards are
           | pretty difficult to find.
           | 
           | [1] https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/2317
           | 47/...
           | 
           | [2] https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/system/mp/6u/sys-6
           | 81e...
        
         | The_Colonel wrote:
         | "supports up to" doesn't have to mean "works well/optimally
         | with".
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _FreeBSD 14.0 Release Information_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38291436 - Nov 2023 (6
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _FreeBSD 14.0 has reached - RELEASE_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38219578 - Nov 2023 (93
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _FreeBSD 14.0-RC1 Now Available_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37881293 - Oct 2023 (17
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _FreeBSD 14.0-BETA2 Now Available_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37532706 - Sept 2023 (7
       | comments)
        
       | ksec wrote:
       | I think a lot of the work for serving 800Gbps of TLS encrypted
       | traffic from Netflix landed on FreeBSD 14.
       | 
       | Cant wait to see if they are doing 1600Gbps.
        
       | Gud wrote:
       | Finally FreeBSD has fast WiFi?
       | 
       | "WiFi 6 support has been added to wpa (wpa_supplicant(8) and
       | hostapd(8)). c1d255d3ffdb 3968b47cd974 bd452dcbede6"
       | https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/relnotes/
        
         | ThePowerOfFuet wrote:
         | Yes, but only if your card's driver does too. Mine uses iwm
         | [0], which makes me sad:
         | 
         | >Currently, iwm only supports 802.11b and 802.11g modes. It
         | will not associate to access points that are configured to
         | operate only in 802.11n or 802.11ac modes.
         | 
         | Thankfully, 802.11a seems to work, so I can use my 5 GHz radio.
         | But it's not fast.
         | 
         | [0]: https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?iwm
        
         | throw0101a wrote:
         | > _The iwlwifi(4) driver for Intel wireless interfaces has been
         | updated to the latest version, supporting chipsets up to WiFi
         | 6E AX411 /AX211/AX210, and with preparations for upcoming BX
         | and SC chipsets. (Sponsored by The FreeBSD Foundation)_
         | 
         | * https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/relnotes/#drivers-
         | dev...
         | 
         | *
         | https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=iwlwifi&manpath=Fr...
        
       | adamddev1 wrote:
       | I want to love FreeBSD, but there are some things I wished were
       | easier. Like getting the firewall pf set up. When I install
       | Debian with ufw I get a really nice starting ruleset that works
       | well with IPv6 and good ICMP filtering etc. With FreeBSD I was
       | confused for awhile about how to get IPv6 working with (the very
       | powerful) pf, which you have to write a config file completely
       | from scratch for. I was left with a lot of suggestions and
       | snippets but struggling to dig through the man pages and set all
       | the complex rules for which types of ICMP messages to filter,
       | etc. I wish there was an easier way to get going with the
       | firewall with a good ready-made pf.conf file for a web server
       | that works well with IPv6. Yes the power and easy customability
       | of pf is great. But for many users who aren't network experts,
       | some nice, accepted starting templates would be great.
        
         | BSDobelix wrote:
         | Well there are some examples:
         | 
         | https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/tree/main/share/examp...
         | 
         | But yeah that pf.conf could be expanded allot, but there are
         | many source to cobble a conf together. My conf is massive but
         | 99.9% commented out so i have my "template" for nearly
         | everything, from mail to web to blacklistd etc.
        
       | throw0101a wrote:
       | Full release notes at:
       | 
       | * [1] https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/announce/
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | RACK? No mention of RACK or BBR. I thought the kld was being
       | enabled by default in this release cycle.
       | 
       | or is this "old news" and it was rolled into an older release?
        
         | throw0101a wrote:
         | See "Request for Testing: TCP RACK" at:
         | 
         | * https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-
         | current/2023-Nove...
         | 
         | tcp_rack(4) has been available since FreeBSD 13.0, just not the
         | default:
         | 
         | *
         | https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=tcp_rack&manpath=F...
         | 
         | An article from 2021:
         | 
         | * https://klarasystems.com/articles/using-the-freebsd-rack-
         | tcp...
         | 
         | * 2021 Discussion:
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28549370
        
       | petecooper wrote:
       | I was introduced to FreeBSD (v3.3) in the late 90s by
       | /user?id=gjvc. I bought the CD set and the FreeBSD Handbook in
       | paperback format from The FreeBSD Mall.
       | 
       | I was too young to appreciate it back then, but now in my mid-40s
       | I find myself hankering back to those early days for me. It's a
       | shame that some cloud providers like DigitalOcean and Hetzner
       | have dropped native support for FreeBSD as base operating systems
       | for their VPSes. I think this release will be the turning point
       | for me getting back into FreeBSD after too many years away.
       | 
       | Thanks to the FreeBSD release team!
        
         | jbverschoor wrote:
         | Yup.. FreeBSD was awesome becausethe FreeBSD handbook has
         | always been top notch. It covers everything you need to install
         | and administer FreeBSD + many of its packages
        
         | Kimitri wrote:
         | If it's a FreeBSD VPS you're after, I'd suggest you give
         | UpCloud a chance. I'm currently running a few FreeBSD VPSs on
         | UpCloud and I have not run into any issues. It's kinda great!
        
       | samtheprogram wrote:
       | I tried out FreeBSD and loved it, between the documentation,
       | cohesion, and the ports system.
       | 
       | Unfortunately, I need Docker for work on a few different projects
       | -- one for Supabase migrations, and another project that's
       | orchestrated (in development too) via docker-compose.
       | 
       | Highly recommend it otherwise.
        
         | ptx wrote:
         | You could always run Docker in a Linux VM, which is what Docker
         | Desktop does anyway. FreeBSD has Bhyve for this.
        
       | akoster wrote:
       | From the release notes, it appears this may be the last release
       | with i386 / 32-bit Intel x86 (as well as 32-bit armv6 and
       | PowerPC) support.
       | 
       | "FreeBSD 15.0 is not expected to include support for 32-bit
       | platforms other than armv7. The armv6, i386, and powerpc
       | platforms are deprecated and will be removed. 64-bit systems will
       | still be able to run older 32-bit binaries."
       | 
       | Source: https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/relnotes/
        
         | cperciva wrote:
         | Probably 14.3 will be the last release with i386. But yes, 14.x
         | will be the last major branch with i386.
        
       | BSDobelix wrote:
       | I love how easy it is to be a part of FreeBSD:
       | 
       | Open a account at https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/
       | 
       | Go to https://portscout.freebsd.org/ and find your outdated port
       | (or port without maintainer (ports@freebsd.org))
       | 
       | Update port (makefile) open a bugreport add your diff and that's
       | it...or ask to take additionally maintainership of that port.
       | 
       | https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/porters-handbook/
        
       | alberth wrote:
       | A. Huge thanks for all involved in FreeBSD.
       | 
       | It's amazing how polished, supported and performant it is for the
       | relative size of the team involved.
       | 
       | B. Please consider donating.
       | 
       | https://freebsdfoundation.org/donate/
       | 
       | C. I have much love for FreeBSD and as such, these are things I
       | hope get address in the next major version (15.0)
       | 
       | - turning all services (except ssh) off, by default. OpenBSD does
       | this.
       | 
       | - move all non-core things out of the base, like sendmail (now
       | DMA, what a nice import from DFly btw)
       | 
       | - the base should only have one way to do things (don't have 3
       | different firewalls in base like today)
       | 
       | - better defaults, https://vez.mrsk.me/freebsd-defaults.html
       | 
       | - something like io-uring, (async-sendfile is similar but that's
       | only for sendfile)
       | 
       | Thank you again for an amazing OS.
        
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       (page generated 2023-11-20 23:00 UTC)