• Home Page, Headlines
 • DW Weekly, Comments
 • Packages, Package Management
 • Glossary, FAQ, Mobile Site
 • Search, Sitemap
 • Major Distributions
 • Submit Distribution
 • Upcoming Releases
 • About DistroWatch
 • Page Hit Ranking
 • Advertise
 • Torrent Downloads

FreeBSD RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: FreeBSD

FreeBSD

Last Update: 2021-03-30 08:20 UTC


FreeBSD is a UNIX-like operating system for the i386, amd64, IA-64, arm, MIPS, powerpc, ppc64, PC-98 and UltraSPARC platforms based on U.C. Berkeley's "4.4BSD-Lite" release, with some "4.4BSD-Lite2" enhancements. It is also based indirectly on William Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's "Net/2" to the i386, known as "386BSD", though very little of the 386BSD code remains. FreeBSD is used by companies, Internet Service Providers, researchers, computer professionals, students and home users all over the world in their work, education and recreation. FreeBSD comes with over 20,000 packages (pre-compiled software that is bundled for easy installation), covering a wide range of areas: from server software, databases and web servers, to desktop software, games, web browsers and business software - all free and easy to install.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 25 (435), 6 months: 24 (479), 3 months: 22 (501), 4 weeks: 15 (589), 1 week: 24 (448)

Average visitor rating: 8.91/10 from 69 review(s).


FreeBSD Summary
Distribution FreeBSD
Home Page http://www.freebsd.org/
Mailing Lists http://www.freebsd.org/community/mailinglists.html
User Forums http://forums.freebsd.org/
Alternative User Forums UnitedBSD
Documentation http://www.freebsd.org/docs.html
Screenshots  
Screencasts
Download Mirrors http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors-ftp.html
Bug Tracker http://www.freebsd.org/support/bugreports.html
Related Websites FreeBSD WikiFreeBSD NewsThe FreeBSD DiaryFreeBSD PlanetFreeBSD Custom ReleasesThe FreeBSD MallFreeBSD for Raspberry PiVirtualBSDFreshPortsFreeBSD PortsFreeBSD System Administration TrainingDaemonForumsBSDNexusThe FreeBSD FoundationBSDSupportBSD DevCenterSuper User's BSD Cross ReferrenceManual PagesWikipediaFreeBSD ItalyBSDForen.de (German) • BSDGuru (Polish)
Reviews 12.x: ArstechnicaDistroWatch
11.x: Pro-Linux (German) • DistroWatch
10.x: DistroWatch
9.x: OSNewsDistroWatch
8.x: O'Reilly BroadcastLWN
7.x: Linuxoid (Russian) • Wordpress
6.x: BlogspotServerWatchabout LinuxTuxmachines
5.x: DistroWatchOSNews
4.x: OSNews
Where To Buy The FreeBSD Mall

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2021-03-30: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-RC4
 • 2021-03-20: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-RC3
 • 2021-03-13: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-RC2
 • 2021-03-06: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-RC1
 • 2021-02-27: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-BETA4
 • 2021-02-21: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-BETA3
 • 2021-02-13: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.0-BETA2
 • 2020-10-27: BSD Release: FreeBSD 12.2
 • 2020-10-17: Development Release: FreeBSD 12.2-RC3
 • 2020-10-10: Development Release: FreeBSD 12.2-RC2
 • 2020-10-04: Development Release: FreeBSD 12.2-RC1
 • 2020-09-27: Development Release: FreeBSD 12.2-BETA3
 • More FreeBSD releases...

  Headlines:
 •2021-03-17 FreeBSD gets reworked WireGuard code
 •2021-02-24 Upgrading FreeBSD using snapshots and fewer reboots
 •2021-01-29 FreeBSD will make i386 a Tier 2 architecture
 •2021-01-16 FreeBSD publishes status report
 •2020-12-01 FreeBSD gets WireGuard implementation
 •2020-11-02 FreeBSD running the Linux build of Chrome
 •2020-10-22 FreeBSD publishes status report
 •2020-10-08 Managing FreeBSD jails with BastilleBSD
 •2020-08-25 FreeBSD merging upstream OpenZFS code
 •2020-07-15 FreeBSD publishes status report
 • More FreeBSD headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
TUXEDO
TUXEDO Computers
Get your Linux laptop at TUXEDO Computers today! Choose from a wide variety of Linux laptops with both AMD Ryzen and Intel Core i processors. All coming pre-installed and ready-to-run with Ubuntu or openSUSE. Full 24 months of warranty included!

TUXEDOComputers.com

Star Labs

Star Labs Systems | Laptops designed for Linux

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the new Star Lite Mk III, Star LabTop Mk IV and more. Available with a choice of Ubuntu, elementary OS, Linux Mint, Manjaro or Zorin OS pre-installed with many more distributions supported. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.


Linux Privacy Notebooks

UbuntuShop.eu - Linux Notebooks

Pre-installed open-source notebooks with free Tails live boot options "to hide your whereabouts." Preloaded with Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Manjaro or Kali Linux.

UbuntuShop.euManjaroComputer.eu


Learn Linux Quickly

Learn Linux Quickly


Shells.com

Shells.com - Your Personal Workspace in the Cloud

Your own personal Linux computer in the cloud, available on any device. Supported operating systems include Android, Debian, Fedora, KDE neon, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, Manjaro and Ubuntu, ready in minutes.

Starting at US$4.95 per month, 7-day money-back guarantee



Feature 13-CURRENT 12-STABLE 12.2 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Feature
Release Date 2021-03-30 2021-03-30 2020-10-27 2018-07-08 2017-10-03 2014-07-15 2013-06-09 2011-02-24 2008-11-28 2006-05-25 2005-01-25 2000-06-24 1998-11-29 Release Date
End Of Life       2021-09 2018-10 2016-12 2015-08             End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB)     200-3200 200-3200 200-2900 100-1700               Image Size (MB)
Free Download Ports Ports ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop                           Default Desktop
Package Management TXZ TXZ TXZ TXZ TXZ TXZ TXZ TBZ TBZ TBZ TGZ TGZ TGZ Package Management
Release Model Rolling Semi Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture aarch64, amd64, armv6, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, i386, ia64, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, i386, ia64, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, arm, armel, i386, ia64, mips, mipsel, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox amd64, arm, armel, i386, ia64, mips, mipsel, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox alpha, amd64, i386, ia64, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox alpha, amd64, i386, ia64, pc98, powerpc, sparc64 alpha, i386 alpha, i386 alpha, i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC Init Software
Journaled File Systems UFS2 SU+J UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal           Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Multilingual
Asian Language Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw arabic, cn, jp, kr, tw Asian Language Support
Full Package List 13-current 12-stable 12.2 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Full Package List
Package 13-CURRENT 12-STABLE 12.2 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Package
abiword (3.0.4) 3.0.4 3.0.4 3.0.1 3.0.1 3.0.1 2.8.6 2.8.4 2.8.4 2.6.3 2.4.2 2.2.1 -- -- abiword (3.0.4)
alsa-lib (1.2.4) 1.1.2 1.1.2 1.1.2 1.1.2 1.1.2 1.0.27.2 1.0.23 1.0.23 1.0.10 -- -- -- -- alsa-lib (1.2.4)
ati-driver (20.45) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ati-driver (20.45)
bash (5.1) 5.1 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.1 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.04 2.02.1 bash (5.1)
bind (9.17.11) 9.16.13 9.16.13 9.16.7 9.14.1 9.11.2 9.9.5 9.7.2-P3 9.7.2 9.5.0 9.3.2 9.3.0 -- 8.1.2 bind (9.17.11)
chromium (89.0.4389.90) 88.0.4324.182 -- 84.0.4147.135 73.0.3683.103 60.0.3112.101 35.0.1916.153 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (89.0.4389.90)
cups (2.3.3) 2.3.3op2 2.3.3op2 2.3.3 2.2.10 2.2.3 1.7.1 1.4.5 1.4.6 1.3.9 1.1.23 1.1.22 -- -- cups (2.3.3)
dhcp (4.4.2) 4.4.2 4.4.2 4.4.2 4.4.1 4.3.5 4.3.0 4.1.2 4.1.2 3.0.5 3.0.3 3.0.1rc14 2.0 1.0.2 dhcp (4.4.2)
e2fsprogs (1.46.2) 1.46.2 1.46.2 1.45.6 1.45.2 1.43.4 1.42.9 1.41.13 1.41.14 1.41.0 1.38 1.35 -- -- e2fsprogs (1.46.2)
firefox (87.0) 87.0 87.0 81.0.1 67.0.2 55.0.3 28.0.1 3.6.13 3.6.13 3.0.4 1.5.0.1 1.0 -- -- firefox (87.0)
freetype (2.10.4) 2.10.4 2.10.4 2.10.2 2.9.1 2.8 2.5.3 2.4.4 2.4.4 2.3.7 2.1.10 2.1.7 1.3.1 1.1 freetype (2.10.4)
gcc (10.2.0) 9.1.0 9.1.0 10.2.0 8.3.0 6.4.0 4.7.3 4.3.4 4.6.0 3.4.6 3.3.6 3.2.3 -- 2.8.1 gcc (10.2.0)
gimp (2.10.22) 2.10.22 2.10.22 2.10.20 2.10.8 2.8.22 2.8.10 2.6.11 2.6.11 2.4.7 2.2.10 2.2.1 -- 1.0.2 gimp (2.10.22)
glibc (2.33) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- glibc (2.33)
gnome-shell (40.0) 3.36.6 3.36.6 3.28.3 3.28.3 3.18.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (40.0)
gnucash (4.5) 4.4 4.4 4.2 3.4 2.6.17 2.6.2 2.2.9 2.2.9 2.2.6 -- 1.8.9 -- 1.0.17 gnucash (4.5)
gnumeric (1.12.49) 1.12.48 1.12.48 1.12.48 1.12.43 1.12.28 1.12.11 1.10.12 1.10.12 1.8.3 1.6.2 1.4.1 -- 0.3 gnumeric (1.12.49)
grub (2.04) -- -- -- 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.98 1.98 -- 0.97 0.95 -- -- grub (2.04)
gtk (4.0.3) 3.24.24 3.24.24 3.24.23 3.22.29 3.22.15 3.8.8 2.22.1 2.22.1 2.12.11 2.8.11 2.4.14 1.2.8 1.0.6 gtk (4.0.3)
httpd (2.4.46) 2.4.46 2.4.46 2.4.46 2.4.39 2.4.27 2.4.9 2.2.17 2.2.17 2.2.9 2.2.0 2.0.52 -- -- httpd (2.4.46)
inkscape (1.0.2) 1.0.2 1.0.2 1.0.1 0.92.3 0.92.1 0.48.4 0.48.0 0.48.0 0.46 0.43 0.38.1 -- -- inkscape (1.0.2)
k3b (20.12.3) 20.12.3 20.12.3 20.08.1 18.12.3 2.0.3 2.0.2 2.0.2 2.0.2 1.0.5 -- 0.11.17 -- -- k3b (20.12.3)
kmod (28) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- kmod (28)
krita (4.4.3) 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.3.0 4.1.8 3.1.2.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (4.4.3)
libreoffice (7.1.1) 7.1.1.2 7.1.1.2 7.0.1 6.2.2 5.3.4 4.1.5 -- -- 2.4.1 -- 1.1.3 -- -- libreoffice (7.1.1)
linux (5.11.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- linux (5.11.10)
Package 13-CURRENT 12-STABLE 12.2 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Package
lxpanel (0.10.1) 0.9.3 0.9.3 0.9.3 0.9.3 0.9.3 0.6.1 0.5.6 0.5.6 0.3.7 -- -- -- -- lxpanel (0.10.1)
mariadb (10.5.9) 10.5.9 10.5.9 10.5.5 10.3.13 10.2.6 5.5.35 5.2.4 5.2.4 -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (10.5.9)
mate-desktop (1.24.1) 1.24.1 1.24.1 1.24.0 1.20.3 1.12.1 1.6.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.24.1)
mesa (21.0.1) 20.2.3 20.2.3 19.0.8 18.3.2 17.1.4 10.1.0 7.9.1 7.9.1 -- -- -- 3.2 3.0 mesa (21.0.1)
mysql (8.0.23) 8.0.23 8.0.23 8.0.21 8.0.16 5.7.19 5.6.17 5.1.55 5.5.9 5.0.67 5.0.18 4.1.7 3.22.32 3.22.10b mysql (8.0.23)
nautilus (40.0) 3.36.3 3.36.3 3.36.3 3.28.1 3.18.5 2.32.2.1 2.32.2.1 2.32.2.1 2.22.5.1 2.12.2 2.8.2 -- -- nautilus (40.0)
NVIDIA (460.67) 460.67 460.67 440.100 390.87 375.66 331.49 -- 270.18 -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (460.67)
openbox (3.6.1) 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5.2 3.4.11.2 3.4.11.2 3.4.7.2 3.2 3.2 -- -- openbox (3.6.1)
openjdk (16) 8u282 8u282 15.0.0 12.0.0 8u131 7u51 7b122 7b122 -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (16)
openssh (8.5p1) 8.4p1 8.4p1 8.2p1 7.9p1 7.5p1 6.6p1 5.4p1 5.2p1 3.6p1 3.6p1 3.6p1 -- -- openssh (8.5p1)
openssl (1.1.1k) 1.1.1j 1.1.1j 1.1.1h 1.1.1b 1.0.2l 1.0.1 1.0.0 1.0.0d 0.9.8h 0.9.8a 0.9.7e -- -- openssl (1.1.1k)
perl (5.32.1) 5.32.1 5.32.1 5.32.0 5.28.1 5.24.1 5.16.3 5.12.3 5.12.3 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.5 -- 5.005.02 perl (5.32.1)
php (8.0.3) 8.0.3 8.0.3 7.4.10 7.3.6 7.1.8 5.5.10 5.3.5 5.3.5 5.2.6 5.1.2 5.0.3 -- -- php (8.0.3)
plasma-desktop (5.21.3) 5.20.5 5.20.5 5.19.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (5.21.3)
postfix (3.5.9) 3.5.9 3.5.9 3.5.7 3.3.4 3.2.2 2.11.0 2.8.0 2.8.0 2.5.4 2.2.9 2.1.5 -- -- postfix (3.5.9)
postgresql (13.2) 9.6.21 9.6.21 13.0 11.3 9.6.4 8.4.21 9.0.3 9.0.3 8.3.3 8.1.3 7.4.6 -- -- postgresql (13.2)
Python (3.9.2) 3.9.2 3.9.2 3.8.6 3.7.3 3.6.1 2.7.6 2.6.6 3.1.3 2.5.2 2.4.2 2.4 1.5.2 1.5.1 Python (3.9.2)
qt (6.0.2) 5.15.2 5.15.2 5.15.0 5.12.1 5.7.1 4.8.5 4.7.1 4.7.1 3.3.8 3.3.5 3.3.3 1.45 1.41 qt (6.0.2)
samba (4.14.2) -- -- 4.13.0 4.8.9 4.6.6 4.1.6 3.5.6 3.5.6 3.0.32 3.0.21b 3.0.10 -- 1.9.18.10 samba (4.14.2)
systemd (247.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- systemd (247.6)
thunderbird (78.9.0) 78.9.0 78.9.0 78.3.1 60.7.1 52.3.0 24.4.0 3.1.7 3.1.7 2.0.0.16 1.5 1.0 -- -- thunderbird (78.9.0)
vim (8.2) 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.1 8.0 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.2 6.4 6.3 5.6 5.3 vim (8.2)
vlc (3.0.12.1) 3.0.12 3.0.12 3.0.11 3.0.6 2.2.6 2.1.2 1.1.7 1.1.7 0.8.6i 0.8.4a -- -- -- vlc (3.0.12.1)
xfdesktop (4.16.0) 4.16.0 4.16.0 4.14.2 4.12.4 4.12.3 4.10.2 4.6.2 4.6.2 4.4.2 4.2.3.2 4.0.6 -- -- xfdesktop (4.16.0)
xorg-server (1.20.10) 1.20.9 1.20.9 1.20.9 1.18.4 1.18.4 1.7.7 1.7.5 1.7.5 1.4.2 (6.9.0) -- -- -- xorg-server (1.20.10)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for FreeBSD

Average rating
8.9
from 69 review(s)



What are your thoughts on FreeBSD?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Comments (maximum 2,040 characters):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 12.2
Rating: 5
Date: 2021-03-22
Votes: 0


It just is such a shame, but I cannot seem to run FreeBSD...ever... Something in FreeBSD always attracted me. I had nice experiences with GhostBSD and Nomad BSD, but for some reason, the real stuff just refuses to work. I tried on an Asus X75V laptop, an el-cheapo HP (something 15), a quadcore Dell Vostro 470, a Dell Optiplex 3100 (all of these had 4 Gig RAM) and a custom built Celeron machine (2Gig ram). Either the USB is not bootable, or the 802.11n wireless stick is not working, nor the Netgear that I have lying around, nor the builtin Realtek in the laptop, or the GUI is not working. I've read the handbook, manual pages and countless forum and internet pages...to no avail. My last ditch effort was with RC3 for version 13, as I had my hopes up that, just maybe, this time it could work. It ended with a two hour session trying to get Openbox to work and resulted in a mangled login manager. So I finally gave up.

This might be a top end system and I am just too dumb to get it working. Or, I just have sheer bad luck with my hardware choices and therefore it just doesn't work (?)... However, the end result is the same: I cannot use it.

So I can only say that I liked the pkg tool. It seems so much faster and more "logical" than the linux equivalents. I will take anybody's word for it that it is a perfect server system. My conclusion is that FreeBSD is exactly that: a system to run servers and maybe I should not try to use it as a desktop system.




Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 12.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-03-18
Votes: 3


The operating system for system administrators and network professionals. A complement to Cisco's robust IOS software running on switches and routers.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 12.2
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-02-25
Votes: 16


Been using it since version 5.1.

- VNET Jails are easy to configure (not in the handbook yet but there is documentation out there) and allow you to have loads of FreeBSD systems running on a single host. If you have a lot of jails I highly recommend template jails (there is a section in the handbook).
- ZFS is amazing. Once I switched to it I never went back to UFS, although UFS is great as well.
- Ports system
- Sane kernel configuration file
- rc.conf keeps it simple
- I don't understand those who complain about hardware support, I mean you are using a network card which uses the "em" driver, right? If you choose to use inferior hardware that isn't meant for a server (such as Realtek) that is on you.
- ifconfig is ridiculously easier to use than Linux distributions' ip command
- Set up your host, set up your jails, check sockstat to make sure your bindings are correct, then just relax.
- Separate base system from 3rd party software
- Low abstraction compared to Linux distros. Once you get used to it you truly understand what is going on. This is a strength.



Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 69 reader reviews of FreeBSD...


Copyright (C) 2001 - 2021 Atea Ataroa Limited. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Privacy policy. Change privacy settings.
DistroWatch.com is hosted at Copenhagen.

Contact, corrections and suggestions: Jesse Smith
Tips: BTC bc1qtede6f7adcce4kjpgx0e5j68wwgtdxrek2qvc4 • XMR 86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le • PayPal.me/distrowatchweekly