Not actually Linux distro review deux: GhostBSD reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NitroNilz · 2020-04-13 15:32 Please, can someone w/ an account on ARS ask Mr. Salter why he includes __DesktopBSD__, which seems dead, and neglects the very much aLive __NomadBSD__? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jaypatelani · 2020-04-13 15:38 He is here : /u/mercenary_sysadmin ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mercenary_sysadmin · 2020-04-13 16:19 I missed NomadBSD when writing that review, but it gets a mention in the next episode of my [podcast](https://techsnap.systems), which Wes and I recorded last night. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- celibidaque · 2020-04-13 17:43 TrueOS is also dead. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2020-04-13 18:29 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mercenary_sysadmin · 2020-04-13 19:43 ~~TrueOS isn't dead by any means, it just isn't a desktop distro.~~ PC-BSD had both server-side and desktop-side bits changed from its FreeBSD roots. When ixSystems decided it was too much of a pain to separate the desktop bits from the server-y bits when rolling that into FreeNAS and TrueNAS, they forked Project Trident (the desktop bits) off, stripped out the desktop bits, and what was left is TrueOS, ~~which is still very much actively developed~~. Project Trident isn't dead either; but it's "dead to BSD" I guess, since its devs rebased on Void Linux. This is all in the article itself btw. **edit: trueos IS abandoned, see link below** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- celibidaque · 2020-04-13 19:58 What's the point of maintaining an OS for servers based on FreeBSD? Paid support? TrueOS is to FreeBSD that CentOS is to RHEL, but somehow reversed? I can see the need of a FreeBSD for desktop, since users might be too lazy (or, let's say, lacking the time or other resources) to tune FreeBSD for desktop use, but I imagine that someone who'd chose FreeBSD for servers would be skilled enough to use FreeBSD directly, not something like TrueOS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mercenary_sysadmin · 2020-04-13 20:06 > What's the point of maintaining an OS for servers based on FreeBSD? Paid support? It feeds into FreeNAS and TrueNAS. FreeBSD ---> TrueOS (ixSystems / community) --> TrueNAS (ixSystems / proprietary) | |---> FreeNAS (ixSystems / community) | |-----------> GhostBSD (community) Presumably, ixSystems sees value in the non-UX work they're doing in the FreeBSD underpinnings which either aren't getting accepted into FreeBSD upstream, or are too slow to be accepted into FreeBSD upstream for their purposes. Assuming they can get community involvement in those things, it's a net win to have them segmented off easily this way, so they can reap the benefit of community support and testing and some assistance with maintenance. Since at the very minimum GhostBSD is based off of TrueOS, it would appear that they're correct about that. At the very least, they're benefiting the community by offering up the back end stuff in a curated and maintained working downstream FreeBSD variant; at best they're doing that and getting community support back as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- takethecannoli4 · 2020-04-13 23:31 Why is that imbecile? Edit: downvoted for an honest question with no other implications? Keep it classy, Reddit ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- daemonpenguin · 2020-04-14 14:25 This is incorrect. TrueOS's team reported they no longer maintain the OS and development stopped months ago. It's dead. The fact you don't know this and claim the project is "very much actively developed" shows you are unfamiliar with the developers and ecosystem. TrueOS hasn't put out a new release is about a year and a half and the lead developer, Kris Moore, confirmed it is an abandoned project on the iX forum: https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/is-trueos- abandoned.82183/#post-576467 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mercenary_sysadmin · 2020-04-14 15:04 Oh, damn. Thank you for the link! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TheAmazingJuicyBeast · 2020-04-14 15:43 Oh man I also like seeing these reviews! Thanks for posting ---------------------------------------------------------------------- terono · 2020-04-14 18:25 And they say it's not embedded based on OpenRC? In intertet there is information. Submitted by ericbsd on Wed, 05/02/2018 - 11:44 You might have seen the discussion about this subject on the GhostBSD forums. So yes GhostBSD will release a version in the future with TrueOS as the base system. We have not yet decided if we will continue releasing a version with FreeBSD as the base operating system. For some time we have discussed problems that GhostBSD is facing in the long run. Some of our community have asked for improvements including a better rc such as OpenRC. We all have thought of OpenRC, but for a small team, it is a hard thing to do on our own as a project. After a lot of discussions, we decided to join TrueOS effort. Since then it is now making more sense as both of the main developers of GhostBSD work for iXsystems. TrueOS is becoming more mature as an appliance building platform making it appealing for the goal of creating reproducible builds of GhostBSD. Security-enhancing features such as LibreSSL integration and improved service management with OpenRC are just a few examples of some the improvements the switch will bring. http://www.ghostbsd.org/GhostBSD_is_switching_its_system_base by ericbsd » Fri May 25, 2018 10:07 am TrueOS will no longer offer a Desktop, TrueOS is becoming an embedded, system that we can build quality appliances with and systems like GhostBSD and new projects that will emerge of that change. GhostBSD will stay about the same it has always been, but we will have a comfortable way to upgrade from version to version. The significant difference will be the boot time compared to the current release, OpenRC will be in base, Software wise it will be similar to the previous version.