FreeBSD: A State of the Art Operating System

FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for personal computers based on the Intel CPU architecture, which includes the 386, 486 and Pentium processors (both SX and DX versions). Intel compatible CPUs from AMD and Cyrix are supported as well. FreeBSD provides many advanced features previously available only on much more expensive computers. Some of these features are:

• Preemptive multitasking with dynamic priority adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing of the computer between applications and users.
• Multiuser access means that many people can use a FreeBSD system simultaneously for a variety of things. System peripherals such as printers and tape drives are also properly shared between all users on the system.
• Complete TCP/IP networking including SLIP, PPP, NFS and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can interoperate easily with other systems as well act as an enterprise server, providing vital functions such as NFS (remote file access) and e-mail services or putting your organization on the Internet with WWW, ftp, routing and firewall (security) services.
• Memory protection ensures that applications (or users) cannot interfere with each other or the operating system itself. One application crashing will not affect others in any way.
• Demand paged virtual memory and `merged VM/buffer cache' design efficiently satisfies applications with large appetites for memory while still maintaining interactive response to other users.
• FreeBSD is a 32-bit operating system and was designed as such from the ground up.
• The industry standard X Window System (X11R6) provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a common VGA card and monitor.
• Binary compatibility with many programs built for SCO, BSDI, NetBSD, and 386BSD, and Linux.
• Hundreds of ready-to-run applications in the FreeBSD ports collection. Why search the net when you can find it all right here?
• Thousands of additional and easy-to-port applications available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most applications require few, if any, changes to compile.
• Shared libraries (the Unix equivalent of MS-Windows DLLs) provide for efficient use of disk space and memory.
• A full compliment of C, C++, Fortran and Perl development tools. Many additional languages for research and advanced development are available as well in the ports collection.
• Source code for the entire system means you have the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor when you can have a truly Open System?
• Extensive on-line documentation.
• And many more! For a more complete description of the system, please look at the release notes containing up-to-date information on the latest version of FreeBSD.

FreeBSD is based on the BSD 4.4-lite release from Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California at Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished tradition of BSD systems development. In addition to the fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for maximum performance and reliability in real-life load situations. As many of the commercial giants struggle to field PC operating systems with such features, performance, and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them now!

Applications

The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly limited only by your own imagination. From software development to factory automation. Inventory control to azimuth correction of remote satellite antennae - if it can be done with a commercial UNIX product, then it's more than likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high quality applications developed by research centers and universities around the world, and often available at low (to no) cost. Commercial applications are also available and appearing in greater numbers every day.

Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally available, the system can also be customized to an almost unheard of degree for special applications or projects, and in ways not generally possible with operating systems from most major commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of some of the applications in which people are currently using FreeBSD:

• Internet Services: The robust TCP/IP networking built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a variety of Internet services such as:
  • FTP servers
  • World Wide Web servers
  • Gopher servers
  • Electronic Mail servers
  • USENET News
  • Bulletin Board Systems
  • And more...
  You can easily start out small with an inexpensive 386 class PC and upgrade as your enterprise grows. Walnut Creek CDROM's ftp server is an excellent example of this in action as is this Web server.
• Education: Are you a student of computer science or a related engineering field? There is no better way of learning about operating systems, computer architecture and networks than the hands on, under the hood experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of freely available CAD, mathematical and graphic design packages also make it highly useful to those who's primary interest in a computer is to get other work done!
• Research: With source code for the entire system available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research in operating systems as well as other branches of computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also makes it possible for remote groups to collaborate on ideas or shared development without having to worry about special licensing agreements, or with limitations on what can be discussed in certain forums.
• Networking: Need a new router? A name server (DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 PC sitting in the corner into an advanced router with sophisticated packet filtering capabilities.
• X Window workstation: FreeBSD is an excellent choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either using the freely available XFree86 server or one of the excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside. Unlike an X terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a central server. Additionally, FreeBSD can boot "diskless" making individual workstations even cheaper and easier to administer.
• Software Development: The basic FreeBSD system comes with a full compliment of development tools included the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and debugger.
• And more! The number of applications to which FreeBSD can be put is truly amazing! If you have an innovative application for FreeBSD, let us know so we can add it to our growing catalog of FreeBSD uses.

Availability

You might expect to pay a considerable sum of money for all the performance and features that FreeBSD offers, but FreeBSD is available to you absolutely free, thanks to the generous contributions of many individuals throughout the world. It also runs on PC hardware that is easy to obtain and is generally far less expensive than traditional workstation hardware. The basic hardware requirements are an ISA, EISA, VESA, or PCI based PC with a 386sx to Pentium (or compatible) class CPU, 4 megabytes of RAM (8MB recommended) and a minimum of 60MB of disk space. FreeBSD also supports most popular ethernet adaptors, multi-port serial cards, most popular SCSI controllers, Mitsumi, Sony and SCSI CD-ROM drives, SCSI, QIC and floppy controller tape drives, certain sound cards and scanners, bus and serial mice and some PCMCIA devices. The release notes describe the currently supported hardware in greater detail, and support for additional types of hardware is being added every day.

Most of FreeBSD is covered by a Berkeley-style license which permits free use and redistribution in whole or in part, so long as the copyright notice is maintained. Some parts of FreeBSD are covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL) or the GNU Library Public License (GLPL) and are subject to the restrictions contained therein.

You can get FreeBSD via anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD, or from one of the numerous mirror sites around the world. If you have a CD-ROM drive, for a modest fee you can also purchase FreeBSD on CD-ROM from Walnut Creek CDROM:

Walnut Creek CDROM
1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260
Walnut Creek CA 94596 USA
Phone: +1 510 674-0783
Fax: +1 510 674-0821
Email: info@cdrom.com

In addition to FreeBSD itself, the CD-ROM comes with hundreds of ready to run applications and a money back guarantee.

About the FreeBSD Project

FreeBSD is developed and supported by a worldwide team of programmers. Jordan Hubbard has written a brief history of the FreeBSD project. A roster of who's responsible for what is also available here. If you would like to see what some of us look like, have a look at our gallery of project members. A more complete listing of contributors is available in the Contributors section of the FreeBSD Handbook. FreeBSD is an open project and we welcome the help of individuals who have time and or skills to offer.