Debian Gets FreeBSD Kernel Support

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 6th Apr 2009 20:47 UTC, submitted by Lennie

Two new architectures based on the FreeBSD-kernel have been added to the Debian Archive. This makes Debian the first distribution, and probably the first large OS, to support two completely different kernels at the same time. "The two new architectures (well, better named OS i think, as they use a different kernel) are available in unstable and experimental. We do start out empty, importing only what is needed to get a build running. For this reason you will not be able to directly use it immediately. Please wait until they catched up, which I expect to happen soon."

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GNU / freebsd and hurd

by project_2501 on Mon 6th Apr 2009 22:37 UTC

Member since:
2006-03-20

1. If FreeBSD supports DTRACE then will GNU/kfreebsd support DTRACE?

2. Can someone summarise why the Hurd has not yet taken off? Where are they at? What is stopping them progressing?

Reply Permalink Score: 2

RE: GNU / freebsd and hurd

by KAMiKAZOW on Mon 6th Apr 2009 22:52 UTC in reply to "GNU / freebsd and hurd"

Member since:
2005-07-06

@1: DTrace and ZFS should be possible.
@2: Nobody works on Hurd.

Reply Permalink Score: 4

This is news???

by KAMiKAZOW on Mon 6th Apr 2009 22:51 UTC

Member since:
2005-07-06

Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is around since at least 2005. At least the wiki page http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD?action=info was created in 2005 (scroll down).

Reply Permalink Score: 3

RE: This is news???

by Lennie on Mon 6th Apr 2009 23:08 UTC in reply to "This is news???"

Member since:
2007-09-22

suppositly it's now not just a port, but is strarting to look like it might be in the next release.

Reply Permalink Score: 1

RE[2]: This is news???

by Accident on Tue 7th Apr 2009 15:28 UTC in reply to "RE: This is news???"

Member since:
2005-07-29

Naw, I hope this help all some what.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD#Debian_GNU.2FkFree...

Seems like the NetBSD is coming alone very nicely. I hope they accept the OpenSolaris (Nexenta) soon too.

Reply Permalink Score: 1

What about Gentoo?

by lopisaur on Mon 6th Apr 2009 23:01 UTC

Member since:
2006-02-27

This is similar to Gentoo's FreeBSD project, http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/bsd/fbsd/

Reply Permalink Score: 3

RE: What about Gentoo?

by quarkvanlepton on Tue 7th Apr 2009 07:57 UTC in reply to "What about Gentoo?"

Member since:
2008-03-08

Reply Permalink Score: 2

Is a OSNews Debian GNU/kFreeBSD review on its way?

by sakeniwefu on Mon 6th Apr 2009 23:04 UTC

Member since:
2008-02-26

I would like one covering:

-Installation - I read it needs a BSD disk partitioning utility meaning not many people would be able to install it.

-Hardware Support - Binary blobs have been removed according to Debian(should've used a free BSD kernel instead of a FreeBSD one :p). How many things do not work that would in FreeBSD?

-Desktop Environment and Software - Does anything work at all?

Edited 2009-04-06 23:05 UTC

Reply Permalink Score: 1

Why?

by Kebabbert on Tue 7th Apr 2009 09:51 UTC

Member since:
2007-07-27

Why are they using another kernel than Linux? Is it because of the many shortcomings in Linux? Linux is buggy, says Linux Kernel developer Andrew Morton:
http://lwn.net/Articles/285088/

For instance, Linux is not that good on file serving, says a storage expert:
http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/sans/features/article.php/374...

I dont think the short comings are the reason. Did they change Kernel just for fun?

Reply Permalink Score: 1

RE: Why?

by marcelkoopman on Tue 7th Apr 2009 14:48 UTC in reply to "Why?"

Member since:
2007-03-23

Why are they using another kernel than Linux? Is it because of the many shortcomings in Linux? Did they change Kernel just for fun?

Its just a matter of providing options. There is nothing wrong with either kernel, its just the ability to choose. Which is very good.

Reply Permalink Score: 2

This is great

by marcelkoopman on Tue 7th Apr 2009 10:39 UTC

Member since:
2007-03-23

I really like this. It doesnt state when it will be available but I guess the installers need to be adjusted first in order to support ZFS.
Or this calls for a FS that supports both Linux and FreeBSD so you can boot between the two.

Reply Permalink Score: 1

What makes FreeBSD different...

by sbenitezb on Tue 7th Apr 2009 19:35 UTC

Member since:
2005-07-22

What makes FreeBSD different from Linux, or sets it appart, is it's a complete OS, not just a kernel. What would be the real reason to use just the kernel in Debian? You can have the real thing complete in one package. Plus the SysV way of handling init scripts sucks horribly.

Reply Permalink Score: 2

Why?

by kill on Wed 8th Apr 2009 10:31 UTC