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When BSD and Ubuntu meet by Jack Wallen

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In this article, user installs UbuntuBSD for the first time and documents his thoughts and offers solutions on the hybrid distribution.

ubuntubsdheroConsidering that BSD is far closer to UNIX than is Linux, why would anyone go out of their way to merge it with Ubuntu? Two reasons. First, if you’re a long-time fan of Ubuntu and a long-time hater of systemd, UbuntuBSD might be the “systemd-less Ubuntu” you’ve been looking for. The second reason? Because one of the biggest complaints about BSD is that it’s more complex than it’s Linux relatives. That leads to one simple conclusion: far less usage. Even though BSD is an ideal platform for servers, it winds up little more than a wallflower at prom, watching all the cool Linux kids dancing the night away.

Original article: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/when-bsd-and-ubuntu-meet-on-the-dance-floor-magic-should-happen/

Related articles:

Phoronix – UbuntuBSD 16.04 Beta Pairs Ubuntu Xenial With FreeBSD 10.3

GhostBSD 10.3 RC1 is ready for testing

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The developers of GhostBSD have made available the first release candidate for version 10.3. ZFS filesystem disk encryption was pushed back to GhostBSD 11.0. Download the ISO/update files here.

ghostbsd_1

This first RC release is ready for testing new feature in GhostBSD 10.3, MATE and XFCE is available on SourceForge for the i386, amd64, and amd64-uefi architectures.

What has been fixed

  • Installer ZFS Mirror and zraid setup
  • Installer custom partition problem
  • Installer UEFI partition
  • Installer /boot problem
  • 4k partition alignment
  • Network Manager long SSID name
  • Network Manager slowness to open the men
  • Network Manager icon tray crash

Original announcement: http://ghostbsd.org/10.3_RC1

Softpedia – GhostBSD 10.3 RC1 Is Out, but ZFS Disk Encryption Was Pushed Back to GhostBSD 11

pfSense 2.3.2 RELEASE now available

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The developers of pfSense have announced the official RELEASE of version 2.3.2. Notable changes, as noted by Softpedia, are per-user configuration options in the Dashboard, strongSwan VPN update, IPv6 various configuration support, and more. Download the new ISO or update here.

pfSenseWe are happy to announce the release of pfSense® software version 2.3.2!

This is a maintenance release in the 2.3.x series, bringing a number of bug fixes. The full list of changes is on the 2.3.2 New Features and Changes page.

This release includes fixes for 60 bugs, 8 features and 2 todo items completed.

If you haven’t yet caught up on the changes in 2.3.x, check out the Features and Highlights video. Past blog posts have covered some of the changes, such as the performance improvements from tryforward, and the webGUI update.

Official announcement: https://blog.pfsense.org/?p=2108

Related links:

DistroWatch – BSD Release: pfSense 2.3.2

Softpedia – pfSense 2.3.2 Open Source BSD Firewall Distro Arrives with over 70 Improvements

A ZFS developer’s analysis of Apple’s new APFS file system (arstechnica.com)

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ZFS developer Adam H. Leventhal writes an in-depth comparison between ZFS–a prominent filesystem in BSD systems, and APFS–a new filesystem developed for Apple’s macOS and replacing its aging HFS+. The author discusses its snapshot and backup, management, performance, efficiency, and data integrity features.

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APFS, the Apple File System, was itself started in 2014 with Giampaolo as its lead engineer. It’s a stand-alone, from-scratch implementation (an earlier version of this post noted a dependency on Core Storage, but Giampaolo set me straight in this comment). I asked him about looking for inspiration in other modern file systems such as BSD’s HAMMER, Linux’s btrfs, or OpenZFS (Solaris, illumos, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, etc.), all of which have features similar to what APFS intends to deliver. (And note that Apple built a fairly complete port of ZFS, though Giampaolo was not apparently part of the group advocating for it.) Giampaolo explained that he was aware of them as a self-described file system guy (he built the file system in BeOS, unfairly relegated to obscurity when Apple opted to purchase NeXTSTEP instead), but didn’t delve too deeply for fear, he said, of tainting himself.

Full article: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/06/a-zfs-developers-analysis-of-the-good-and-bad-in-apples-new-apfs-file-system/

Discussion thread on /r/programming: https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/4pziho/a_zfs_developers_analysis_of_apples_new_apfs_file/t1_d4pw7vc

 

GhostBSD 10.3-BETA1 now available

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ghostbsd_1The developers of GhostBSD have releeased first BETA of version 10.3. Download the latest version here.

This first BETA development release is ready for testing and debugging new feature in GhostBSD 10.3, MATE and XFCE is available on SourceForge for the i386, amd64, and amd64-uefi architectures.

What has been fixed.

  • Localtime time has been fixed

  • Installer support for UEFI

  • Fixed boot partition for GPT to supports freebsd-boot, bios-boot and efi

Official announcement – http://ghostbsd.org/10.3_BETA1

DistroWatch – Development Release: GhostBSD 10.3-BETA1

ubuntuBSD 16.04 to feature a combo of BusyBox and OpenRC, no systemd

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UbuntuBSDFor those interested in the latest developments of ubuntuBSD, the developer mentions that the official release will come bundled with BusyBox and OpenRC, sans systemd. You can try out the BETA version from their website.

In a series of tweets, ubuntuBSD project leader Jon Boden has announced a few of the technical features coming to the soon-to-be-released ubuntuBSD 16.04 operating system.

A week ago, we wrote an exclusive story to tell you that the first and major release of the ubuntuBSD OS is coming soon, based on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) distribution, but using the powerful kernel from the BSD-based FreeBSD 10.3 operating system.

Softpedia – http://linux.softpedia.com/blog/ubuntubsd-16-04-will-feature-a-combination-of-busybox-and-openrc-but-no-systemd-505463.shtml

Related – New ubuntuBSD Release Is Coming Soon, Based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and FreeBSD 10.3

BSD Magazine: FreeBSD Based Dual – Controller Storage System Concept

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The most recent BSD Magazine features an article by Mikhail E. Zakharov regarding a FreeBSD based dual-controller concept, benchmark test results between Mac OS X and FreeBSD, an interview with GhostBSD’s developer Eric Turgeon, and more. Download the PDF or EPUB below.

bsdmagbeast

Dear Readers,

Huge apology for our delay. We have been having some technical problems. But new BSD Mag is finally out!

The beautiful month of May is behind us and we are heading into the holiday period. Where are you going to spend your vacation?

What’s more, in the beginning of July, our American readers will celebrate Independence Day. Wishing all the best for you and your families! We hope you will spend this day in peace, happiness, and joy.

Moving on to this issue, it opens with industry news, as always. Next, you will read “FreeBSD based dual-controller storage system concept” by Mikhail E. Zakharov, This is the second great article out of three, by this author.

We are proud to introduce to you Natalia Portillo. She made a great comparison of MacOS and FreeBSD in her article “BenchmarksMacOSxVSFreeBSD”.

After her article, we have another (after the previous issue), a GhostBSD related article “GhostBSD – easy to use yet powerful” by Kalin Staykov. If you like this BSD, you will enjoy our interview with Eric Turgeon as well.

“Server Automation for NodeJS over SSH with Nodemiral” by Ray Mahangoe, explains what is Nodemiral and how to install it.

iXsystems prepared a series of articles for you as well. Mark von Fange shared with us its first part “FreeNAS Getting Started Guide: Part 1, Planning, and Installation”.

Finally, as always, you can find a great article by Rob Somerville about Barclays bank.

Enjoy the reading and have a beautiful June! “Don’t count the days, make the days count” – Muhammad Ali.

Marta & BSD Team

Download – https://bsdmag.org/download/freebsd-based-dual-controller-storage-system-concept-new-bsd-mag-issue/

GhostBSD 10.3 ALPHA 2 available

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The developers of GhostBSD have made available the second ALPHA for version 10.3. See the link below for the update and full release notes.

ghostbsd_1

This second ALPHA development release is for testing and debugging new feature in GhostBSD 10.3, MATE and XFCE is available on SourceForge for the i386, amd64, and amd64-uefi architectures.

New feature.

  • UEFI is now supported for 64bit only.

What has been fix.

  • Gbi log and partition data base is now deleting when closing gbi.
  • Resetting partition data base when going back the installation type.
  • 4K Partition Alignment.
  • Networkmgr full SSID name.
  • System Update duplicating the whole install under /boot/kernel.old
  • Gbi “back” button error
  • sudo configuration
  • Wifi down by default
  • /etc/localtime not created by installer.
  • Locales are not correctly set up on installation.
  • missing kern.vty=vt setting in grub.cf

Official announcement: http://ghostbsd.org/10.3-ALPHA2

DistroWatch – Development Release: GhostBSD 10.3-ALPHA2

Softpedia – GhostBSD 10.3 Development Continues, Now with UEFI Support for 64-Bit Platforms

Phoronix – GhostBSD 10.3 Alpha 2 Has Many Fixes, 64-bit UEFI

 

pfSense 2.3.1 RELEASE update

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An update is available as a follow up to the recently released pfSense version 2.3.1. Version 2.3.1. addressed over 100 bug fixes. See the link below to grab the latest version.

pfSense2.3.1 Update 1 (2.3.1_1) is now available. This includes one security fix to the web GUI, and 7 other bug fixes. The 2.3.1-RELEASE change list has been updated with an Update 1 section specifying the changes.

This update will reboot the system after installing.

pfSense 2.3.1 announcement: https://blog.pfsense.org/?p=2050

Update 1 announcement: https://blog.pfsense.org/?p=2068

Related links:

Softpedia – pfSense 2.3 BSD Firewall Gets Its First Major Update with over 100 Changes

DistroWatch – BSD Release: pfSense 2.3.1