NextBSD was an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

initially based on the

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

version of

FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...

as of August 2015. It is a fork of FreeBSD which implements new features developed on branches but not yet implemented in FreeBSD. As of 2019 the website seems defunct, and the later commits on GitHub date from October 2019. The Wayback Machine captures of the website after 2016-12-15 are domain squatter pages and as of 2021-03-17 the site is redirecting to a fake "Apple Support" page.

Features

The basic features of '' launchd'', ''notifyd'', ''asld'', and ''libdispatch'' work. These can be installed by

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

the NextBSD

repository Repository may refer to: Archives and online databases * Content repository, a database with an associated set of data management tools, allowing application-independent access to the content * Disciplinary repository (or subject repository), a ...

from

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, co ...

, building GENERIC or MACHTEST kernels, installing a new world on an existing 10.x or CURRENT system, and then following the instructions in the README. ''Launchd'' will start the initial jobs that are part of the repo now.

Planned Features

The project refers to an installer as the first planned milestone on their website. Future plans include convert to rc and tying notifyd in to potential consumers.

History

NeXTBSD was announced by Jordan Hubbard and Kip Macy in August 2015 at the Bay Area FreeBSD Users Group (BAFUG).

Relationship to FreeBSD

NeXTBSD is based on the FreeBSD-CURRENT kernel while adding in Mach IPC, Libdispatch, notifyd, asld, launchd, and other components derived from

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, Apple's open-source code for

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

Technology

Basic Architecture

* FreeBSD-current kernel + Mach IPC * Common Object Runtime (create/delete/retain/release) * Libdispatch / ASL / Libnotify * launchd ** launchctl *** json config files ** legacy rc system ** cooperating daemons

Mach Kernel Abstractions

Tasks

The units of resource ownership; each task consists of a virtual address space, a port right namespace, and one or more threads. (Implemented as an extension to a process.)

Threads

The units of CPU execution within a task. Simple extension to kthreads.

Address space

In conjunction with memory managers, Mach implements the notion of a sparse virtual address space and shared memory. (No modifications)

Memory objects

The internal units of memory management. Memory objects include named entries and regions; they are representations of potentially persistent data that may be mapped into address spaces. (Unsupported)

Ports

Secure, simplex communication channels, accessible only via send and receive capabilities (known as port rights).

IPC

Message queues, remote procedure calls, notifications, semaphores, and lock sets. (Mach semaphores and lock sets are not supported).

Time

Clocks, timers, and waiting - (rudimentary shims).

Standards adherence

Current BSD operating system variants support many of the common

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organ ...

, ISO, and

POSIX The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system- and user-level application programming inte ...

standards, while retaining most of the traditional BSD behavior. Like AT&T Unix, the BSD kernel is

monolithic A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Monolith or monolithic may also refer to: Architecture * Monolithic architecture, a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated ...

, meaning that device drivers in the kernel run in

privileged mode In computer science, hierarchical protection domains, often called protection rings, are mechanisms to protect data and functionality from faults (by improving fault tolerance) and malicious behavior (by providing computer security). Computer ...

, as part of the core of the operating system. A selection of significant Unix versions and

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

operating systems that descend from BSD includes: *

, an open source general purpose operating system. **

NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

NEXTSTEP NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of proprieta ...

and

OPENSTEP OpenStep is a defunct object-oriented application programming interface (API) specification for a legacy object-oriented operating system, with the basic goal of offering a NeXTSTEP-like environment on non-NeXTSTEP operating systems. OpenStep wa ...

, based on the Mach kernel and

4BSD The History of the Berkeley Software Distribution begins in the 1970s. 1BSD (PDP-11) The earliest distributions of Unix from Bell Labs in the 1970s included the source code to the operating system, allowing researchers at universities to modify an ...

; the ancestor of

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

(macOS) *** Apple Inc.'s

, the core of

and iOS; built on the XNU kernel (part

Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...

, part FreeBSD, part Apple-derived code) and a userland much of which comes from FreeBSD

References

NextBSD website - Archive.Org capture of 2016-12-15

PDF Slide Presentation of the NextBSD basic architecture

Article about NextBSD y by Michael Larabel in Phoronix magazine

NextBSD GitHub source repository

Bibliography

* Marshall K. McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quartermain, ''The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System'' (Addison Wesley, 1996; ) * Marshall K. McKusick, George V. Neville-Neil, ''The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System'' (Addison Wesley, August 2, 2004; ) * Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall K. McKusick, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman, ''The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating System'' (Addison Wesley, November 1989; ) * * Peter H. Salus, ''The Daemon, the GNU & The Penguin'' (Reed Media Services, September 1, 2008; ) * Peter H. Salus, ''A Quarter Century of UNIX'' (Addison Wesley, June 1, 1994; ) * Peter H. Salus, ''Casting the Net'' (Addison-Wesley, March 1995; {{ISBN, 978-0-201-87674-1)

External links

FreeBSD GitHub source repository

A timeline of BSD and Research UNIX

UNIX History
– History of UNIX and BSD using diagrams
The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System

The Unix Tree: Source code and manuals for old versions of Unix

EuroBSDCon
an annual event in Europe in September, October or November
founded
in 2001
BSDCan
a conference in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, Canada, held annually in May since 2004, in June since 2015
AsiaBSDCon
a conference in Tokyo, held annually in March of each year, since 2007
mdoc.su — short manual page URLs for FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and DragonFly BSD
a web-servic
written
in

nginx Nginx (pronounced "engine x" ) is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. The software was created by Igor Sysoev and publicly released in 2004. Nginx is free and open-source software ...

BXR.SU — Super User's BSD Cross Reference
a userland and kernel source code search engine based on OpenGrok and

FreeBSD Berkeley Software Distribution