FreeBSD - Derivatives

Derivatives

There are a number of software distributions based on FreeBSD including:

  • PC-BSD (aimed at home users and workstations)
  • DesktopBSD (aimed at home users and workstations)
  • FreeSBIE (live CD)
  • Frenzy (live CD)
  • GhostBSD (Gnome-based distribution, that also offers LXDE GUI)
  • m0n0wall (firewall)
  • pfSense (firewall)
  • FreeNAS (for network attached storage)
  • AuthServ (for network servers & storage)

All these distributions have no or only minor changes when compared with the original FreeBSD base system. The main difference to the original FreeBSD is that they come with pre-installed and pre-configured software for specific use cases. This can be compared with Linux distributions, which are all binary compatible because they use the same kernel and also use the same basic tools, compilers and libraries, while coming with different applications, configurations and branding.

Besides these distributions there is DragonFly BSD, a fork from FreeBSD 4.8 aiming for a different multiprocessor synchronization strategy than the one chosen for FreeBSD 5 and development of some microkernel features. It does not aim to stay compatible with FreeBSD and has huge differences in the kernel and basic userland.

A wide variety of products are directly or indirectly based on FreeBSD. Examples of embedded devices based on FreeBSD include:

  • Citrix Netscalers
  • F5 Networks's 3DNS version 3 global traffic manager and EDGE-FX version 1 web cache (NB These are now end of life with 3DNS functionality being moved to the Linux based BIGIP Platform)
  • Ironport network security appliances
  • Junos network operating system by Juniper Networks used in their routers, switches and security devices
  • KACE Networks's KBOX 1000 & 2000 Series Appliances and the Virtual KBOX Appliance
  • nCircle's IP360
  • NetApp's Data ONTAP 8.x and the now superseded ONTAP GX (only as a loader for proprietary kernel-space module)
  • Netasq security appliances
  • Nokia's firewall operating system
  • Panasas's and Isilon Systems's cluster storage operating systems
  • The PlayStation 3 video game console.
  • Sandvine's network policy control products
  • Sophos's Email Appliance
  • St. Bernard Software iPrism web filtering appliances
  • Panasonic's 2010 TV models (PDP and LCD)
  • Blue Coat's ProxySG WAN acceleration appliance is partially derived from FreeBSD
  • Netflix's Open Connect Appliance
  • The Weather Channel's IntelliStar local forecast computer runs FreeBSD

Other operating systems such as Linux and the RTOS VxWorks contain code that originated in FreeBSD. Debian, known primarily for using the Linux kernel, also maintains GNU/kFreeBSD, combining the GNU userspace and C library with the FreeBSD kernel. Darwin, the core of Apple OS X, borrows FreeBSD’s virtual file system, network stack, and components of its userspace. The OpenDarwin project (now defunct), a spin-off of Apple’s Darwin operating system, also included substantial FreeBSD code. Thanks to the permissive FreeBSD License, much of FreeBSD now also forms the basis of Apple OS X and OS X Server.

Mac OS X Server includes the latest technological advances from the open source BSD community. Originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the BSD distribution is the foundation of most UNIX implementations today. Mac OS X Server is based largely on the FreeBSD distribution and includes the latest advances from this development community. —"Apple Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard—UNIX: Open source foundation",

Read more about this topic:  FreeBSD