                             Explaining BSD

  Greg Lehey

   <grog@FreeBSD.org>

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   aware of the trademark claim, the designations have been followed
   by the "(TM)" or the "(R)" symbol.

   In the open source world, the word "Linux" is almost synonymous
   with "Operating System", but it is not the only open source
   UNIX(R) operating system. According to the Internet Operating
   System Counter, as of April 1999 31.3% of the world's network
   connected machines run Linux. 14.6% run BSD UNIX. Some of the
   world's largest web operations, such as Yahoo!, run BSD. The
   world's busiest FTP server of 1999 (now defunct), ftp.cdrom.com,
   used BSD to transfer 1.4 TB of data a day. Clearly this is not a
   niche market: BSD is a well-kept secret.

   So what is the secret? Why is BSD not better known? This white
   paper addresses these and other questions.

   Throughout this paper, differences between BSD and Linux will be
   noted like this.

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1 What is BSD?

   BSD stands for "Berkeley Software Distribution". It is the name of
   distributions of source code from the University of California,
   Berkeley, which were originally extensions to AT&T's Research UNIX
   operating system. Several open source operating system projects
   are based on a release of this source code known as 4.4BSD-Lite.
   In addition, they comprise a number of packages from other Open
   Source projects, including notably the GNU project. The overall
   operating system comprises:

     * The BSD kernel, which handles process scheduling, memory
       management, symmetric multi-processing (SMP), device drivers,
       etc.

       Unlike the Linux kernel, there are several different BSD
       kernels with differing capabilities.

     * The C library, the base API for the system.

       The BSD C library is based on code from Berkeley, not the GNU
       project.

     * Utilities such as shells, file utilities, compilers and
       linkers.

       Some of the utilities are derived from the GNU project, others
       are not.

     * The X Window system, which handles graphical display.

       The X Window system used in most versions of BSD is maintained
       by one of two separate projects, either the XFree86(TM)
       project or the X.Org project. This is the same code as Linux
       uses. BSD does not normally specify a "graphical desktop" such
       as GNOME or KDE, though these are available.

     * Many other programs and utilities.

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2 What, a real UNIX(R)?

   The BSD operating systems are not clones, but open source
   derivatives of AT&T's Research UNIX operating system, which is
   also the ancestor of the modern UNIX System V. This may surprise
   you. How could that happen when AT&T has never released its code
   as open source?

   It is true that AT&T UNIX is not open source, and in a copyright
   sense BSD is very definitely not UNIX, but on the other hand, AT&T
   has imported sources from other projects, noticeably the Computer
   Sciences Research Group (CSRG) of the University of California in
   Berkeley, CA. Starting in 1976, the CSRG started releasing tapes
   of their software, calling them Berkeley Software Distribution or
   BSD.

   Initial BSD releases consisted mainly of user programs, but that
   changed dramatically when the CSRG landed a contract with the
   Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) to upgrade the
   communications protocols on their network, ARPANET. The new
   protocols were known as the Internet Protocols, later TCP/IP after
   the most important protocols. The first widely distributed
   implementation was part of 4.2BSD, in 1982.

   In the course of the 1980s, a number of new workstation companies
   sprang up. Many preferred to license UNIX rather than developing
   operating systems for themselves. In particular, Sun Microsystems
   licensed UNIX and implemented a version of 4.2BSD, which they
   called SunOS(TM). When AT&T themselves were allowed to sell UNIX
   commercially, they started with a somewhat bare-bones
   implementation called System III, to be quickly followed by System
   V. The System V code base did not include networking, so all
   implementations included additional software from the BSD,
   including the TCP/IP software, but also utilities such as the csh
   shell and the vi editor. Collectively, these enhancements were
   known as the Berkeley Extensions.

   The BSD tapes contained AT&T source code and thus required a UNIX
   source license. By 1990, the CSRG's funding was running out, and
   it faced closure. Some members of the group decided to release the
   BSD code, which was Open Source, without the AT&T proprietary
   code. This finally happened with the Networking Tape 2, usually
   known as Net/2. Net/2 was not a complete operating system: about
   20% of the kernel code was missing. One of the CSRG members,
   William F. Jolitz, wrote the remaining code and released it in
   early 1992 as 386BSD. At the same time, another group of ex-CSRG
   members formed a commercial company called Berkeley Software
   Design Inc. and released a beta version of an operating system
   called BSD/386, which was based on the same sources. The name of
   the operating system was later changed to BSD/OS.

   386BSD never became a stable operating system. Instead, two other
   projects split off from it in 1993: NetBSD and FreeBSD. The two
   projects originally diverged due to differences in patience
   waiting for improvements to 386BSD: the NetBSD people started
   early in the year, and the first version of FreeBSD was not ready
   until the end of the year. In the meantime, the code base had
   diverged sufficiently to make it difficult to merge. In addition,
   the projects had different aims, as we will see below. In 1996,
   OpenBSD split off from NetBSD, and in 2003, DragonFlyBSD split off
   from FreeBSD.

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3 Why is BSD not better known?

   For a number of reasons, BSD is relatively unknown:

    1. The BSD developers are often more interested in polishing
       their code than marketing it.

    2. Much of Linux's popularity is due to factors external to the
       Linux projects, such as the press, and to companies formed to
       provide Linux services. Until recently, the open source BSDs
       had no such proponents.

    3. BSD developers tend to be more experienced than Linux
       developers, and have less interest in making the system easy
       to use. Newcomers tend to feel more comfortable with Linux.

    4. In 1992, AT&T sued BSDI, the vendor of BSD/386, alleging that
       the product contained AT&T-copyrighted code. The case was
       settled out of court in 1994, but the spectre of the
       litigation continues to haunt people. As recently as March
       2000 an article published on the web claimed that the court
       case had been "recently settled".

       One detail that the lawsuit did clarify is the naming: in the
       1980s, BSD was known as "BSD UNIX". With the elimination of
       the last vestige of AT&T code from BSD, it also lost the right
       to the name UNIX. Thus you will see references in book titles
       to "the 4.3BSD UNIX operating system" and "the 4.4BSD
       operating system".

    5. There is a perception that the BSD projects are fragmented and
       belligerent. The Wall Street Journal spoke of "balkanization"
       of the BSD projects. Like the law suit, this perception bases
       mainly on ancient history.

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4 Comparing BSD and Linux

   So what is really the difference between, say, Debian Linux and
   FreeBSD? For the average user, the difference is surprisingly
   small: Both are UNIX like operating systems. Both are developed by
   non-commercial projects (this does not apply to many other Linux
   distributions, of course). In the following section, we will look
   at BSD and compare it to Linux. The description applies most
   closely to FreeBSD, which accounts for an estimated 80% of the BSD
   installations, but the differences from NetBSD, OpenBSD and
   DragonFlyBSD are small.

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  4.1 Who owns BSD?

   No one person or corporation owns BSD. It is created and
   distributed by a community of highly technical and committed
   contributors all over the world. Some of the components of BSD are
   Open Source projects in their own right and managed by different
   project maintainers.

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  4.2 How is BSD developed and updated?

   The BSD kernels are developed and updated following the Open
   Source development model. Each project maintains a publicly
   accessible source tree under the Concurrent Versions System (CVS),
   which contains all source files for the project, including
   documentation and other incidental files. CVS allows users to
   "check out" (in other words, to extract a copy of) any desired
   version of the system.

   A large number of developers worldwide contribute to improvements
   to BSD. They are divided into three kinds:

     * Contributors write code or documentation. They are not
       permitted to commit (add code) directly to the source tree. In
       order for their code to be included in the system, it must be
       reviewed and checked in by a registered developer, known as a
       committer.

     * Committers are developers with write access to the source
       tree. In order to become a committer, an individual must show
       ability in the area in which he is active.

       It is at the individual committer's discretion whether he
       should obtain authority before committing changes to the
       source tree. In general, an experienced committer may make
       changes which are obviously correct without obtaining
       consensus. For example, a documentation project committer may
       correct typographical or grammatical errors without review. On
       the other hand, developers making far-reaching or complicated
       changes are expected to submit their changes for review before
       committing them. In extreme cases, a core team member with a
       function such as Principal Architect may order that changes be
       removed from the tree, a process known as backing out. All
       committers receive mail describing each individual commit, so
       it is not possible to commit secretly.

     * The Core team. FreeBSD and NetBSD each have a core team which
       manages the project. The core teams developed in the course of
       the projects, and their role is not always well-defined. It is
       not necessary to be a developer in order to be a core team
       member, though it is normal. The rules for the core team vary
       from one project to the other, but in general they have more
       say in the direction of the project than non-core team members
       have.

   This arrangement differs from Linux in a number of ways:

    1. No one person controls the content of the system. In practice,
       this difference is overrated, since the Principal Architect
       can require that code be backed out, and even in the Linux
       project several people are permitted to make changes.

    2. On the other hand, there is a central repository, a single
       place where you can find the entire operating system sources,
       including all older versions.

    3. BSD projects maintain the entire "Operating System", not only
       the kernel. This distinction is only marginally useful:
       neither BSD nor Linux is useful without applications. The
       applications used under BSD are frequently the same as the
       applications used under Linux.

    4. As a result of the formalized maintenance of a single CVS
       source tree, BSD development is clear, and it is possible to
       access any version of the system by release number or by date.
       CVS also allows incremental updates to the system: for
       example, the FreeBSD repository is updated about 100 times a
       day. Most of these changes are small.

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  4.3 BSD releases

   FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD provide the system in three different
   "releases". As with Linux, releases are assigned a number such as
   1.4.1 or 3.5. In addition, the version number has a suffix
   indicating its purpose:

    1. The development version of the system is called CURRENT.
       FreeBSD assigns a number to CURRENT, for example FreeBSD
       5.0-CURRENT. NetBSD uses a slightly different naming scheme
       and appends a single-letter suffix which indicates changes in
       the internal interfaces, for example NetBSD 1.4.3G. OpenBSD
       does not assign a number ("OpenBSD-current"). All new
       development on the system goes into this branch.

    2. At regular intervals, between two and four times a year, the
       projects bring out a RELEASE version of the system, which is
       available on CD-ROM and for free download from FTP sites, for
       example OpenBSD 2.6-RELEASE or NetBSD 1.4-RELEASE. The RELEASE
       version is intended for end users and is the normal version of
       the system. NetBSD also provides patch releases with a third
       digit, for example NetBSD 1.4.2.

    3. As bugs are found in a RELEASE version, they are fixed, and
       the fixes are added to the CVS tree. In FreeBSD, the resultant
       version is called the STABLE version, while in NetBSD and
       OpenBSD it continues to be called the RELEASE version. Smaller
       new features can also be added to this branch after a period
       of test in the CURRENT branch.

   By contrast, Linux maintains two separate code trees: the stable
   version and the development version. Stable versions have an even
   minor version number, such as 2.0, 2.2 or 2.4. Development
   versions have an odd minor version number, such as 2.1, 2.3 or
   2.5. In each case, the number is followed by a further number
   designating the exact release. In addition, each vendor adds their
   own userland programs and utilities, so the name of the
   distribution is also important. Each distribution vendor also
   assigns version numbers to the distribution, so a complete
   description might be something like "TurboLinux 6.0 with kernel
   2.2.14"

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  4.4 What versions of BSD are available?

   In contrast to the numerous Linux distributions, there are only
   four major open source BSDs. Each BSD project maintains its own
   source tree and its own kernel. In practice, though, there appear
   to be fewer divergences between the userland code of the projects
   than there is in Linux.

   It is difficult to categorize the goals of each project: the
   differences are very subjective. Basically,

     * FreeBSD aims for high performance and ease of use by end
       users, and is a favourite of web content providers. It runs on
       a number of platforms, including i386(TM) based systems
       ("PCs"), systems based on the AMD 64-bit processors,
       UltraSPARC(R) based systems, systems based on Compaq's Alpha
       processors and systems based around the NEC PC-98
       specification. The FreeBSD project has significantly more
       users than the other projects.

     * NetBSD aims for maximum portability: "of course it runs
       NetBSD". It runs on machines from palmtops to large servers,
       and has even been used on NASA space missions. It is a
       particularly good choice for running on old non-Intel(R)
       hardware.

     * OpenBSD aims for security and code purity: it uses a
       combination of the open source concept and rigorous code
       reviews to create a system which is demonstrably correct,
       making it the choice of security-conscious organizations such
       as banks, stock exchanges and US Government departments. Like
       NetBSD, it runs on a number of platforms.

     * DragonFlyBSD aims for high performance and scalability under
       everything from a single-node UP system to a massively
       clustered system. DragonFlyBSD has several long-range
       technical goals, but focus lies on providing a SMP-capable
       infrastructure that is easy to understand, maintain and
       develop for.

   There are also two additional BSD UNIX operating systems which are
   not open source, BSD/OS and Apple's Mac OS(R) X:

     * BSD/OS was the oldest of the 4.4BSD derivatives. It was not
       open source, though source code licenses were available at
       relatively low cost. It resembled FreeBSD in many ways. Two
       years after the acquisition of BSDi by Wind River Systems,
       BSD/OS failed to survive as an independent product. Support
       and source code may still be available from Wind River, but
       all new development is focused on the VxWorks embedded
       operating system.

     * Mac OS X is the latest version of the operating system for
       Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh(R) line. The BSD core of this
       operating system, Darwin, is available as a fully functional
       open source operating system for x86 and PPC computers. The
       Aqua/Quartz graphics system and many other proprietary aspects
       of Mac OS X remain closed-source, however. Several Darwin
       developers are also FreeBSD committers, and vice-versa.

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  4.5 How does the BSD license differ from the GNU Public license?

   Linux is available under the GNU General Public License (GPL),
   which is designed to eliminate closed source software. In
   particular, any derivative work of a product released under the
   GPL must also be supplied with source code if requested. By
   contrast, the BSD license is less restrictive: binary-only
   distributions are allowed. This is particularly attractive for
   embedded applications.

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  4.6 What else should I know?

   Since fewer applications are available for BSD than Linux, the BSD
   developers created a Linux compatibility package, which allows
   Linux programs to run under BSD. The package includes both kernel
   modifications, in order to correctly perform Linux system calls,
   and Linux compatibility files such as the C library. There is no
   noticeable difference in execution speed between a Linux
   application running on a Linux machine and a Linux application
   running on a BSD machine of the same speed.

   The "all from one supplier" nature of BSD means that upgrades are
   much easier to handle than is frequently the case with Linux. BSD
   handles library version upgrades by providing compatibility
   modules for earlier library versions, so it is possible to run
   binaries which are several years old with no problems.

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  4.7 Which should I use, BSD or Linux?

   What does this all mean in practice? Who should use BSD, who
   should use Linux?

   This is a very difficult question to answer. Here are some
   guidelines:

     * "If it ain't broke, don't fix it": If you already use an open
       source operating system, and you are happy with it, there is
       probably no good reason to change.

     * BSD systems, in particular FreeBSD, can have notably higher
       performance than Linux. But this is not across the board. In
       many cases, there is little or no difference in performance.
       In some cases, Linux may perform better than FreeBSD.

     * In general, BSD systems have a better reputation for
       reliability, mainly as a result of the more mature code base.

     * BSD projects have a better reputation for the quality and
       completeness of their documentation. The various documentation
       projects aim to provide actively updated documentation, in
       many languages, and covering all aspects of the system.

     * The BSD license may be more attractive than the GPL.

     * BSD can execute most Linux binaries, while Linux can not
       execute BSD binaries. Many BSD implementations can also
       execute binaries from other UNIX like systems. As a result,
       BSD may present an easier migration route from other systems
       than Linux would.

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  4.8 Who provides support, service, and training for BSD?

   BSDi / FreeBSD Mall, Inc. have been providing support contracts
   for FreeBSD for nearly a decade.

   In addition, each of the projects has a list of consultants for
   hire: FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.

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           This, and other documents, can be downloaded from
                ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/.

 For questions about FreeBSD, read the documentation before contacting
                        <questions@FreeBSD.org>.
   For questions about this documentation, e-mail <doc@FreeBSD.org>.
