NetBSD 9.3(blog.netbsd.org)
blog.netbsd.org
NetBSD 9.3
https://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/netbsd_9_3_released
35 comments
Does someone run NetBSD in production? What do you use NetBSD for?
We used to run it in the geophysics department of the university for workstations.
Also on Jump Hosts with a weird cpu architecture, so that you could not do much with them
Also on Jump Hosts with a weird cpu architecture, so that you could not do much with them
It's "big in Japan". Used on many ISP routers there, for example Internet Initiative Japan's "SEIL" family, as well as most workstations in a few Japanese universities.
pkgsrc enjoys mild popularity in the scientific computing community, a lot of NetBSD use is probably in education - Cambridge University uses it for their thin clients too.
pkgsrc enjoys mild popularity in the scientific computing community, a lot of NetBSD use is probably in education - Cambridge University uses it for their thin clients too.
Thanks!
SDF.org ;)
NetBSD is used for sdf.org, the SDF Public Access UNIX System.
Fastly
At least in 2017:
https://twitter.com/fastly/status/934495679849881601?s=21&t=...
At least in 2017:
https://twitter.com/fastly/status/934495679849881601?s=21&t=...
Are the current releases of NetBSD still fast enough for decade-old x86 machines, e.g. Intel Atoms? Or is this distro also slowly adding complexity with every release? Usercase would be either console-only or console with framebuffer graphics.
I'm a long-time Tiny Core Linux user (loving it!), but I often think about trying out NetBSD more seriously. The documentation seems superb; apparently, it is not hard to reconfigure some bits of the kernel even as more of a "lean systems hobbyist". From what I have read, it is quite convenient to set up as a RAM-booted system, just like Tiny Core.
NetBSD (probably 7.0 or 6.1) was a pleasant experience for me on a Thinkpad T42 some 6-7 years ago.
I'm a long-time Tiny Core Linux user (loving it!), but I often think about trying out NetBSD more seriously. The documentation seems superb; apparently, it is not hard to reconfigure some bits of the kernel even as more of a "lean systems hobbyist". From what I have read, it is quite convenient to set up as a RAM-booted system, just like Tiny Core.
NetBSD (probably 7.0 or 6.1) was a pleasant experience for me on a Thinkpad T42 some 6-7 years ago.
This is exactly the type of hardware where NetBSD shines - it's often best to install it on something from a few years ago where driver support has matured to a fine vintage. Very good OS for preventing old hardware from being binned.
Nice to hear this, thanks. I wonder what the framebuffer experience is like with current NetBSD. I researched this (framebuffer on Linux vs OpenBSD vs NetBSD) a while ago, since I would need a framebuffer PDF reader.
It feels like at this point, Linux has the most choice out of the box, when it comes to software for displaying images/pdfs on the framebuffer? I use fbpdf on Linux, which is not available on NetBSD. Then again, it is based on libmupdf, which is available, so maybe I should get my (shaking) hands dirty. :)
I like it very much how NetBSD encourages user-side modifications of the kernel, e.g. for changing the console font or underclocking the cpu. Every time I read the NetBSD documentation, I feel tempted to install it, because the docs are so well structured and written. Very welcoming, even for (curious) non-CS users like me.
For that reason, using NetBSD may possibly be more educational than using Linux, in the long run? Due to heavy reliance on the official documentation, you'll have a more structured understanding of how stuff works -- as compared to trawling web forums of various Linux distros and sometimes blindly copy-pasting solutions or hacks provided by others. In that sense, a good base documentation encourages more acknowledged use and going to the details from early on. (Obviously, there are Linux distros witch excellent documentation, too, like the Arch wiki.)
That said, I am rather pleased with Tiny Core Linux. Their current release is something like 12.x, and I've been in their boat since version 6.x. It is a really simple, well thought out distro, excellent for older hardware; somewhat similar in that sense to the BSDs. But, yeah, sans that documentation. :)
It feels like at this point, Linux has the most choice out of the box, when it comes to software for displaying images/pdfs on the framebuffer? I use fbpdf on Linux, which is not available on NetBSD. Then again, it is based on libmupdf, which is available, so maybe I should get my (shaking) hands dirty. :)
I like it very much how NetBSD encourages user-side modifications of the kernel, e.g. for changing the console font or underclocking the cpu. Every time I read the NetBSD documentation, I feel tempted to install it, because the docs are so well structured and written. Very welcoming, even for (curious) non-CS users like me.
For that reason, using NetBSD may possibly be more educational than using Linux, in the long run? Due to heavy reliance on the official documentation, you'll have a more structured understanding of how stuff works -- as compared to trawling web forums of various Linux distros and sometimes blindly copy-pasting solutions or hacks provided by others. In that sense, a good base documentation encourages more acknowledged use and going to the details from early on. (Obviously, there are Linux distros witch excellent documentation, too, like the Arch wiki.)
That said, I am rather pleased with Tiny Core Linux. Their current release is something like 12.x, and I've been in their boat since version 6.x. It is a really simple, well thought out distro, excellent for older hardware; somewhat similar in that sense to the BSDs. But, yeah, sans that documentation. :)
I wonder if there's a PDF reader that can render to sixel graphics - mlterm-wscons can display sixels.
Seems like sixel would be an excellent solution, thanks very much for that pointer.
However, I can always convert PDFs to images and go forward from there, I guess. It's not a bad workaround. The fbi image viewer is available for NetBSD's X Window system; not sure about the framebuffer port. https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/
EDIT: Apparently, NetBSD has lsix: https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc/graphics/ls...
"Like ls, but for images. Shows thumbnails in terminal using sixel graphics. /.../ Because lsix uses ImageMagick pretty much any image format will be supported. However, some may be slow to render (like PDF), so lsix doesn't show them unless you ask specifically."
On Linux, the green pdf reader for Linux apparently supports sixel: https://github.com/schandinat/green
Screenshot of green+sixel on NixOS: https://teddit.net/r/commandline/comments/4oldf5/view_pdfs_i...
Another Linux pdf reader with sixel: https://github.com/dsanson/termpdf
All in all, woah, lots of fascinating reading and links here -- since I was not much aware of sixel before: https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel
The sixel format itself seems to match really well with the NetBSD philosophy (among other things, keeping old hardware running via low-demanding, essentials-only software). Thanks again for that pointer.
However, I can always convert PDFs to images and go forward from there, I guess. It's not a bad workaround. The fbi image viewer is available for NetBSD's X Window system; not sure about the framebuffer port. https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/fbida/
EDIT: Apparently, NetBSD has lsix: https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc/graphics/ls...
"Like ls, but for images. Shows thumbnails in terminal using sixel graphics. /.../ Because lsix uses ImageMagick pretty much any image format will be supported. However, some may be slow to render (like PDF), so lsix doesn't show them unless you ask specifically."
On Linux, the green pdf reader for Linux apparently supports sixel: https://github.com/schandinat/green
Screenshot of green+sixel on NixOS: https://teddit.net/r/commandline/comments/4oldf5/view_pdfs_i...
Another Linux pdf reader with sixel: https://github.com/dsanson/termpdf
All in all, woah, lots of fascinating reading and links here -- since I was not much aware of sixel before: https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel
The sixel format itself seems to match really well with the NetBSD philosophy (among other things, keeping old hardware running via low-demanding, essentials-only software). Thanks again for that pointer.
I am thinking of using a *BSD for a remote NAS VPS. I'm comfortable with linux. I was having trouble finding guides on how to harden a BSD at the basic level. SSH lockdown? Is there perhaps a better way to connect like over a VPN or something for this type of use case?
And for hardening ssh:
https://github.com/bsdlabs/ssh-hardening
Then lock-down with PF (firewall).
Overall hardened FreeBSD:
https://hardenedbsd.org/
Or take parts of this Gist:
https://gist.github.com/jahil/4565d8dfa06254f0c11d
https://github.com/bsdlabs/ssh-hardening
Then lock-down with PF (firewall).
Overall hardened FreeBSD:
https://hardenedbsd.org/
Or take parts of this Gist:
https://gist.github.com/jahil/4565d8dfa06254f0c11d
Just disable any services you aren't using, and look at the system specific information for any services that remain. The services and protocols are essentially the same - for example if you're using webdav you can use the same httpd you're familiar with on linux.
ssh works exactly the same as on linux as well.
ssh works exactly the same as on linux as well.
> support for wsfb-based X11 servers on the Commodore Amiga
I love when projects add fun things such as this.
I love when projects add fun things such as this.
More comments in this post, which was flagged as a dup
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32368771
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32368771
[deleted]
I wanted to run NetBSD as a daily driver but the Intel 3945ABG wifi performance was horrible, it disconnected after a few minutes with a fatal firmware error, there was no clean way to get it working again. I will try these versions. I went through FreeBSD and I liked it. I don't give up.
Ouch! Same result with 9.3, I couldn't install Xfce, wifi broken after a few seconds.
Have you reported the bug to NetBSD ?
https://man.netbsd.org/wpi.4
>wpi%d: fatal firmware error For some reason, the firmware crashed. The driver will reset the hardware. This should not happen.
They know.
>wpi%d: fatal firmware error For some reason, the firmware crashed. The driver will reset the hardware. This should not happen.
They know.
I'm a big fan of NetBSD. Great docs, clean design, it's just about ideal for "set it and forget it" projects. I hadn't used a BSD in over a decade but got it up and running in no time for an odd project a few years back that had some unusual display requirements. I imagine it would have taken a lot longer to do with Linux because it's always changing how it does things and I just don't have the time or inclination to keep up with it anymore and the docs are often less than ideal.
Bonus points for their build system. It's about the only time I've ever felt like building from source was a pleasant experience.
Bonus points for their build system. It's about the only time I've ever felt like building from source was a pleasant experience.
Sounds like at this point NetBSD is for educational purposes and maybe for someone who wants a starting point OS for an embedded device.
It doesn't have the community like FreeBSD nor innovations like OpenBSD.
It doesn't have the community like FreeBSD nor innovations like OpenBSD.
I'm going to say that the rump kernel is an innovation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rump_kernel
But admittedly it doesn't seem to have quite the following of those two other BSDs.
But admittedly it doesn't seem to have quite the following of those two other BSDs.