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FreeBSD Set-up Tips

September 23, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

freebsd_foundation The folks at the FreeBSD Foundation provide us tips on using basic commands on FreeBSD — such as virtual consoles, video modes, user accounts, and using the advanced text editor. Head on to the link below for the full instructions.

A brief introduction to some of the commands and functionality of the FreeBSD operating system. This guide will cover the commands that a new user will need to initially start working with FreeBSD as well as how to use the FreeBSD manual pages for more information.

1. Configuring and Using Video Modes

1.1 Virtual Consoles

FreeBSD is configured to log users into the system console, this is identified as (ttyv0). System messages will be displayed in this console by default, occasionally causing issues if the user is entering commands.

FreeBSD also supports multiple virtual consoles to help with this problem. By default these consoles can be accessed by a combination of the alt and F-keys. For example, alt+F2 will open the first virtual console, alt+F3 will open the second, and so on. To re-access the system console use alt+F1.

Virtual Consoles can be used to create the feeling of having multiple screens that can be used. In addition, commands that have been entered on one console will continue to run when the user switches to a different console.

1.2 Changing Video Modes …

Full tutorial: https://www.freebsdfoundation.org/freebsd/how-to-guides/freebsd-set-up-tips/

BSD Magazine – Lumina Desktop Customization Frameworks Vol. 10 No. 09

September 23, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

The latest edition of BSD Magazine features the latest updates to TrueOS and Lumina Desktop Environment — developed by Kris Moore and Ken Moore of the PC-BSD team, respectively. Other articles feature OpenBSD, dual-booting with Windows on UEFI root, the latest entry to the dual-controller storage array, FreeNAS plugins, and finally MINIX. Head on over to the link below to download the PDF or EPUB.

BSD Magazine Vol 10 No 09 – https://bsdmag.org/download/lumina_desktop_cust/

BSDNow.TV Episode 160: EuroBSD Dreamin’

September 23, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

In this BSD Now episode, hosts Allan Jude and Kris Moore discuss Allan’s upcoming plans for EuroBSDCon, as well as the latest updates to all things BSD. Press play below to tune in:

For this week’s roundup of BSD related content from BSD Now: http://www.bsdnow.tv/episodes/2016_09_21-eurobsd_dreamin

FreeBSD 11.0-RC3 now available

September 19, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

The developers of FreeBSD have made available the third release candidate of version 11. The official 11.0-RELEASE has been delayed due to a number of bugs and is slated for September 28. You can download the ISO/images for FreeBSD 11.0-RC3 here.

A summary of changes since 11.0-RC2 includes:

o A boot issue affecting booting from large volumes has been fixed.

o A boot issue affecting powerpc/powerpc has been fixed.

o Debugging options have been turned off for arm64/aarch64.

o The libarchive(3) library has been updated.

o The cron(8) utility has been updated to include a bug fix.

o An ipfw(4) 'set enable/disable' bug has been fixed.

o The arm64/aarch64 kernel has been updated to print a warning when
  running on pass 1.1 hardware.

A list of changes since 10.0-RELEASE are available on the releng/11.0
release notes:

    https://www.freebsd.org/releases/11.0R/relnotes.html

Please note, the release notes page is not yet complete, and will be
updated on an ongoing basis as the 11.0-RELEASE cycle progresses.

Official announcement: https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2016-September/085645.html

BSDNow.TV Episode 159: Net Scaling Privacy (Flix Style)

September 16, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

In this BSD Now episode, hosts Kris Moore and Allan Jude discuss Netflix’s use of FreeBSD and the upcoming EuroBSDCon. Press play below to tune in:

For this week’s roundup of BSD related content: http://www.bsdnow.tv/episodes/2016_09_14-net_scaling_privacy

FreeNAS 10 – State of the Union #4

September 9, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

Jordan Hubbard, CTO of iXsystems, Co-Founder of FreeBSD, and FreeNAS Project Manager, has released his 4th state of the union address outlining the progress made in FreeNAS 10-BETA.

FreeNAS 10 BETA state of the Union from homelab

FreeNAS 10 – State of the Union #4 from freenas

Michael Larabel tries out TrueOS, and other BSDs

September 9, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

Check out these articles from Michael Larabel, of Phoronix, giving his input on TrueOS, DragonFlyBSD, GhostBSD, and various BSD operating systems. He provides thoughts on the ease of use, what needs work, and his top choices.

power

While I’ve been running PC-BSD on some systems for years I hadn’t tried out any of its rolling-release FreeBSD 11.0-based spins under the new TrueOS brand nor had I tried out the project’s Qt-based Lumina Desktop Environment since it reached 1.0. That changed today with trying out the latest weekly spin of TrueOS x64.

TrueOS is PC-BSD’s new unified brand and in addition to the changeover happening for the FreeBSD 11.0 milestone, some other changes TrueOS is carrying on top of FreeBSD 11 includes using LibreSSL, making use of Linux 4.7 DRM driver support, and more.

TrueOS First Spin

Discussion

Following the seven-way Linux distribution benchmark comparison published earlier this week, on the same system I set out to test a variety of BSD distributions on the same system and ultimately benchmark their out-of-the-box performance too. Those performance benchmark results will be published later this week while today were a few remarks I wanted to share when trying out TrueOS, DragonFlyBSD, GhostBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, MidnightBSD, and PacBSD (Arch BSD) on this modern Intel Xeon system.

Trying 8 BSDs

Discussion

BSDNow.TV Episode 158: Ham, Radio and Pie (oh my)

September 9, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

In this BSD Now episode, hosts Allan Jude and Kris Moore interview Diane Bruce regarding using Raspberry Pi 3 for Ham Radio Enthusiasts. Hit play below to tune in:

For this week’s roundup of BSD related content from BSD Now – http://www.bsdnow.tv/episodes/2016_00_07-ham_radio_and_pie_oh_my

iXsystems to Host MeetBSD California 2016 at UC Berkeley

September 6, 2016 By Cao Leave a Comment

Conference to Return to the “Birthplace of BSD” for Its Fifth Installment

SAN JOSE, CA–(Marketwired – September 06, 2016) – iXsystems announced today that the fifth MeetBSD California conference will take place at UC Berkeley’s Clark Kerr campus on November 11-12. As in past years, this year’s MeetBSD California will once again follow a mixed “unConference” format and will feature breakout sessions, discussion groups, and talks from prominent figures in the BSD community.

MeetBSD California is the premier BSD Conference in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its inception in 2008, MeetBSD California has been held every two years in Silicon Valley, bringing together BSD community members from all over the region and around the world.

Previous settings for MeetBSD California have included the Google and Yahoo! Campuses, Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, and the Western Digital campus in San Jose. The BSD operating system was developed in the early ’90s at this year’s venue, UC Berkeley.

Kirk McKusick, one of the instigators of BSD at Berkeley in the 1980s, says, “I am thrilled to have a BSD Conference return to the campus at which it started. I look forward to catching up on all the latest work going into the BSD systems and especially look forward to the party at the historic Hillside Club on Friday evening.”

“For this fifth installment of the MeetBSD California conference, we’re proud to bring it home to where it all began,” says Matt Olander, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of iXsystems. “UC Berkeley provides the perfect backdrop for the accomplishment of BSDrelated development milestones. We’re looking forward to the insightful discussions that will take place at this year’s MeetBSD.”

For more information about MeetBSD or to register to attend, visit MeetBSD.com or email info@meetbsd.com.

PC-BSD Evolves into TrueOS

September 2, 2016 By Cao 2 Comments

As announced earlier this week, PC-BSD has changed its name to TrueOS. The developers made another announcement indicating that TrueOS is a rolling release based on FreeBSD-CURRENT. Download the new ISO/image here.

trueoslogo

TrueOS combines the convenience of a rolling release distribution with the failsafe technology of boot environments, resulting in a system that is both current and reliable. TrueOS now tracks FreeBSD’s “Current” branch and merges features from select FreeBSD developer branches to enhance support for newer hardware and technologies. Weekly automatic updates keep your system always up-to-date, and all updates are performed safely within system snapshots called boot environments. The TrueOS desktop uses the modular yet feature-rich Lumina desktop environment alongside the new SysAdm administration suite to provide a reliable desktop experience. SysAdm provides local and remote management of TrueOS and FreeBSD systems using a cross-platform graphical client compatible with Windows, Mac, and many Linux distributions. TrueOS is preconfigured for desktop and server installations using an intuitive graphical installer, taking the guesswork out of setting up a new system.

Where to find TrueOS:

New Website! https://www.trueos.org/

Try it out! https://www.trueos.org/downloads/

Talk about it! https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOS/

Chat with the developers and other users: https://gitter.im/trueos/Lobby

Read the new Handbook! https://www.trueos.org/handbook/trueos.html

Report a Bug: https://www.trueos.org/handbook/help.html#report-a-bug

Original announcement:

PC-BSD Evolves into TrueOS