Talk:NetBSD

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[edit] Citation?

Is there some citation for this:

"In comparison, Linux device driver code often needs to be reworked for every new architecture. As a consequence, in recent porting efforts by NetBSD and Linux developers, NetBSD has taken much less time to port to new hardware."

?

According to my knowledge well-written Linux driver will work on most relevant architectures without any architecure dependent code.

--- Ondrej Zajicek

This comes from the Wasabi Systems white paper cited in the next paragraph. Admittedly, not a strictly NPOV reference. Letdorf 10:31, 11 June 2007 (UTC).
I've updated the article to tie the white paper to this statement as well as the original. RossPatterson 22:41, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Toaster

I'm tempted to add a link to the article about running NetBSD on a toaster, but that'd probably just be too silly. --Maru 05:02, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History

Since I am one of the people overhauling the OpenBSD article, I feel slightly obligated to update the history of NetBSD, at least up to the schism between Theo and the NetBSD core. If noone does it before OpenBSD becomes worthy of featuredom then I suppose I will add that history-bit in myself. I won't be doing anything from that point on however, so if anyone reading this knows NetBSD's history after that and they can start adding that information in now and that'd be just peachy. Janizary 05:31, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History

I'm quite keen to expand the History section, including descriptions of various milestones in the development of NetBSD, using contemporary USENET postings, the NetBSD CVS repository etc. as sources. If anybody else was planning to do something similar imminently, please let me know.

PS. Yeah, I'd mention the toaster :-)

Letdorf 23:38, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] When'd NetBSD start?

Can someone add a starting date to the first paragraph? I would do it myself, but the article isn't clear on what the starting date is. The only clue I found in the article was that it says the first release (0.8) was in April, 1993. It doesn't have to be specific, but noting even the year would be great. Gronky 19:50, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

  • That may be sensitive under the UC Berkeley / USL lawsuit settlement. I will ask original core members. Georgewilliamherbert 00:49, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
  • I've added the date of the first commits to the NetBSD CVS repository, which is publicly available at http://cvsweb.netbsd.org. Letdorf 10:37, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What about Citrus?

What about Citrus added to NetBSD? It's not mentioned in the article and is very interesting stuff to be mentioned and explained into the article and the relation with NetBSD.

[edit] "Oldest open source OS"?

I don't think this claim can be justified: GNU predates NetBSD and is arguably still active (albeit with Hurd development at a very low level). Linux also predates NetBSD (although, strictly speaking, only a kernel) and if MINIX is considered an older open-source OS (even through it's only been open-source since 2000) then so is Solaris, which dates back to 1992. Letdorf 12:31, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

I have yet to see a GNU operating system, there are plenty of GNU userland tools, but no functioning operating system, let alone anything based on the original attempts by the GNU to make one. There are plenty of Linux and GNU operating systems, but that's a different thing. I'll agree the claim was POV bubcus, but it is probably the longest running one that has been developed open source, from 93 to now is more than 12 years. Janizary 06:46, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
Minix was always open source, just not for commercial use. The terminology shifted around more than a bit since it debuted. Georgewilliamherbert 07:07, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
Hmmmmm.....here's what Andy Tanenbaum said in the "MINIX Info Sheet" (regarding MINIX 1.5) circa 1995:
11. LEGAL STATUS OF MINIX
Although MINIX is supplied with the complete source code, it is copyrighted software. It is not public domain. It is also not like GNU. However, the copyright owner, Prentice-Hall has granted permission to bona fide universities to copy the software for use in courses and in university research projects. It is also permitted for MINIX owners to change the software to suit their needs and to distribute diff listings containing their changes freely. The shrink-wrap license that comes with MINIX states that you may legally make two backup copies of the software. Prentice-Hall is being much less strict than other software vendors. Please do not abuse this. Companies that wish to embed MINIX in commercial systems or sell MINIX-based products should call (212) 753-7753 to discuss licensing terms.
That's not really "open source" in the usual sense. Anyway, I have no objection to some kind of mention of the longevity of NetBSD, as long as it's accurate. Letdorf 11:14, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
Yes it is, the source was open - it's not OSI "Open Source", but the OSI is no more capable of redefining words than the FSF is. Janizary 15:26, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Add the toaster.

Add the damn toaster.

  • ...but don't forget to mention the ridiculous over-engineering of the device. It used a TS-7200 200MHz ARM9 PC/104 controller w/ 32MB of RAM. There's been Unix-based PC/104 (and cheaper!) toasters before. 203.14.156.194 17:43, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
Toaster added (as it happens, it uses a TS-7200 board because it was built as a demo system by the company that sells them). Letdorf 11:02, 31 August 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Compatibility with other operating systems

The section here should refer to Linux (and link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel), not GNU/Linux. System call compatibility is entirely a kernel-level thing, and does not involve the userspace components at all. The change from Linux to GNU/Linux was made 'for consistency,' but introduced a factual inaccuracy. NetBSD's Linux compatibility allows any Linux code to be run; it is not limited to GNU/Linux. - David Chisnall --137.44.2.39 14:35, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] The future of NetBSD

I hope what Charles Hannum said will not happen, its ashame after all the work that been put into the project. Allix Davis Fri Sep 1 00:32:23 BST 2006

NetBSD is used currently to develop games for PlayStation platform. Their kernel is used on Playstation Portable and PS3.

[edit] NetBSD 0.9 PC only ???

Funny, since I definitely remember running NetBSD 0.9 on a VAX-11/750... According to this article, VAX wasn't even supported in the 1.0 release. 213.65.173.249 (talk) 22:43, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

According to this page, the first formal release of NetBSD/vax was 1.2, although the first development snapshot release was between 0.9 and 1.0. I guess this is what you remember running on your 11/750. Letdorf (talk) 10:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC).

[edit] New screenshot needed?

The screenshot now is an interesting mix of things that are and aren't in a base system. XFree86 is in base but it isn't enabled by default (well, it isn't even installed if you don't want it) and Enlightenment would have to have come from an external source. FreeBSD until rather recently had a nice shot of a just-booted system sitting at a prompt which I think is the most fair depiction of their OS, and I feel something similar for NetBSD would be in order. A picture from a non-x86 system would also be a real plus, I think. 66.93.12.46 (talk) 02:20, 11 March 2008 (UTC)